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Cotton 

Culture 

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A    GUIDE    FOR    RAISING 
PROFITABLE  COTTON  CROPS 

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PUBLISHED    BY 

GERMAN  KALI  WORKS 

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TICE:    Every  Farmer  can  obtain  free  of  charge  a 
copy  of  one  of  the  following  books: 

PRINCIPLES  OF  PROFITABLE  FARMING 
POTASH  IN  AGRICULTURE 

FARMER'S  GUIDE 

FARMER'S  NOTE  BOOK 

*TROPICAL  PLANTING 

STASSFURT  INDUSTRY 

TRUCK  FARMING 

PLANT  FOOD 

THE  COW  PEA 

COTTON  CULTURE 

*TOBACCO  CULTURE 

STRAWBERRY  CULTURE 

ORANGE  CULTURE 

*FERTILIZING  SUGAR  CANE 

*SUGAR  CANE  CULTURE 

*FERTILIZING  TOBACCO 

*WHY  THE  FISH   FAILED 

VALUE  OF  SWAMP  LANDS 

*(Also  supplied  in  Spanish  Language) 

State  which  of  the   above  publications  you  desire  and  it 
will  be  mailed  to  you  free  of  charge. 


ADDRESS 

(iertnan  lialt 

NEW  YORK  BALTIMORE,  MD.        CHICAGO,  ILL. 

93  Nassau  Street  1508  Continental  Bldg.        Monadnock  Block 


INTRODUCTION 

The  history  of  cotton  culture  is  interesting.  The  cotton  plant 
has  an  ancient  history,  having  been  mentioned  as  being  grown  in 
India  more  than  2,500  years  ago.  It  was  there  used  for  the  manu- 
facture of  clothing,  which  was  said  by  the  early  Greek  historian, 
Herodotus,  "to  be  of  better  quality  and  finer  fiber  than  that  of  the 
sheep."  And  in  his  account  of  the  plant  he  used  the  very  same  term, 
as  is  now  applied  to  it  by  the  Germans,  namely,  "tree  wool." 

The  cotton  plant  was  growing  on  the  American  continent  at  the 
time  of  its  discovery  by  Columbus,  and  cotton  cloth  has  been  found 
in  the  ancient  tombs  of  the  Incas  of  Peru.  The  first  efforts  to  grow 
cotton  in  the  United  States  were  made  in  Virginia  about  the  year 
1621.  In  1781  eight  bags  of  cotton  were  shipped  to  England,  and  in 
a  few  years  the  trade  increased  to  84,000  bales.  In  the  year  1861 
the  exports  were  1,841,000  bales,  and  yet,  large  as  these  figures  ap- 
peared, the  exports  kept  growing  in  volume  so  that  for  the  year 
ending  August  31,  1909,  these  amounted  to  8,566,342  bales,  the  crop 
in  this  country  being  13,587,306  bales.  The  crop  of  the  world  for 
the  same  period  was  over  18,000,000  bales  of  500  pounds  each.  Of 
the  four  great  staples  for  clothing — cotton,  silk,  wool,  and  flax — 
cotton  has  far  outstripped  all  the  others  in  consumption.  Thus, 
while  fifty  years  ago  only  2,500,000  bales  were  manufactured  into 
clothing  material,  the  present  high- water  mark  shows  over  17,000,- 
ooo  bales  thus  used!  And  yet,  as  the  editor,  Mr.  Edward  Atkinson, 
has  stated,  less  than  one-half  of  the  people  of  the  world  are  fully 
supplied  with  cotton  goods. 

It  is  reasonable  to  assume  that  the  demand  will  continue  to  in- 
crease, and  although  there  will  be  a  natural  increase  in  acreage  and 
production  following  high  prices,  it  behooves  the  individual  planter 
to  safeguard  his  own  interests  by  increasing  the  yield  on  each  acre 
by  intensive  methods  of  culture. 

3 

274351 


A,  bud.     B,  blossom.      C,  boll  or  "  square. 

THE  COTTON  PLANT. 


THE  COTTON   PLANT 

SEED-COTTON  is  the  fruit  of  a  plant  belonging  to  the 
same  botanical  order  as  the  mallow,  hollyhock,  and 
okra.  It  belongs  to  the  genus  Gossypium,  and  the  number 
of  species  or  types  is  variously  stated  to  be  from  four  to 
forty-two.  Agriculturally  and  commercially,  cotton  is 
usually  classified  by  "grade,"  according  to  quality,  length 
of  fiber,  etc.,  and  the  locality  in  which  it  is  produced. 

Two  great  classes  are  recognized:  Oriental  and  Occi- 
dental, or  Eastern  and  Western.  The  chief  distinguish- 
ing feature  between  these  two  classes  lies  in  the  color  of 
the  seed,  the  Eastern  cotton  having  black  seed,  while 
the  Western  varieties  are  green  seeded.  There  are  two 
distinct  types  of  North  American  cottons,  (i)  the  famous 
"Sea-Island"  (black-seeded)  or  "long  staple,"  and  (2)  the 
"New  Orleans"  (green-seeded)  or  "short  staple." 

Sea-Island  cotton  seems  to  require  the  even  moist 
climate  of  low-lying  districts,  where  frost  is  scarcely  known. 
As  this  fiber  is  produced  in  a  limited  area,  its  cultural 
importance  to  the  general  cotton  planter  is  not  great. 
The  greater  part  of  American  cotton  production  belongs 
to  the  "Upland."  This  "upland,"  or  short  staple  cotton, 
covering  a  vast  proportion  of  the  cotton  area,  is  the  cotton 
of  the  planter,  and  the  kind  referred  to  in  this  book  where 
no  other  grade  is  specified. 

5 


COTTON    CULTURE 


With  proper  culture  the  cotton  plant  will  grow  from 
four  to  six  feet  high,  while  under  conditions  particularly 


Wild.  Upland.  Sea  Island. 

TYPES  OF  COTTON  FIBERS. 


Jndia. 


Sea  Island.  American  Upland 

TYPES  OF  COTTON  BOLLS. 


favorable  it  will  reach  a  height  of  eight  feet  or  more.     The 
blossoms  are  white  on  the  first  day,  become  pink  on  the 


COTTON    CULTURE 


second,  and  fall  on  the  third,  leaving  the  embryo  "boll'*' 
enveloped  in  the  calyx.  This  boll  or  "square"  is  really 
a  seed  pod  in  which  the  seeds  develop  surrounded  by  the 
protecting  filaments  of  fiber,  which  constitute  the  cotton  of 

commerce.     On  ripening,  the  boll 

separates  into  three  to  five  or 
more  cells,  much  as  a  chestnut 
burr  opens,  the  cotton  fiber  being 
at  first  so  compact  as  to  preserve 
the  shape  of  the  compartment  it 
had  filled,  but,  soon  drying,  pro- 
trudes from  the  pod  in  a  fluffy 
mass. 

The  cotton  plant  possesses  a 
well-developed  tap  root,  extend- 
ing, according  to  the  vigor  of  the 
plant  and  the  character  of  the  soil, 
to  a  depth  of  three  or  more  feet. 
The  lateral,  or  feeding  roots,  be- 
gin usually  within  three  inches  of 
the  surface,  and  seldom  extend 
below  a  depth  of  nine  inches. 

Cotton  fiber,  when  examined 
under  a  microscope,  resembles 

a  collapsed  tube  with  corded  edges  twisted  many 
times  throughout  its  length,  and  has  the  appearance  of 
an  elongated  cork-screw  or  carpenter's  auger.  These 
convolutions  or  twists  are  less  frequent  as  the  fiber  is  less 
matured,  and  are  almost  altogether  absent  in  the  imma- 


8  COTTON    CULTURE 

ture  fiber.  In  making  thread,  these  "twists"  interlace 
with  one  another,  which  action  assists  in  the  formation  of 
a  strong  thread  from  comparatively  so  weak  a  fiber  as 
cotton.  The  average  length  of  an  ordinary  cotton  fiber  in 
the  United  States  is  one  and  one-tenth  inches.  Sea- Inland 
cotton  has  a  much  longer  fiber. 


THE    COTTON    CLIMATE 

In  the  United  States ,  the  thirty-seventh  parallel  of 
latitude  seems  to  mark  the  limits  of  economical  cotton 
culture,  though  in  many  places  the  line  curves  below  that 
latitude.  A  line  drawn  from  Old  Point  Comfort,  Vir- 
ginia, through  Cairo,  Illinois,  would  cover  practically  the 
same  limits.  Cotton  is  a  plant  which  thrives  in  a  very 
warm  or  even  hot  atmosphere,  providing  the  latter  is 
moist,  and  that  severe  drying  winds  are  not  prevalent. 
Conditions  are  regarded  unfavorable  to  cotton  culture 
where  the  winter  and  spring  temperatures  are  low,  as  the 
growing  season  is  then  liable  to  be  too  short.  The  time 
from  the  planting  of  the  seed  to  the  bursting  of  the  first 
boll  averages  130  days. 

The  first  killing  frost  of  autumn  checks  further  growth 
or  development,  and,  according  to  its  severity,  destroys 
the  plant  and  all  immature  bolls.  For  economical  culture, 
the  crop  requires  six  or  seven  months  of  favorable  grow- 
ing weather.  In  the  typical  cotton  climate,  the  mean 
daily  temperature  increases  from  the  time  of  seeding, 


COTTON    CULTURE  9 

until  about  the  first  of  August,  after  which  time  it  falls 
considerably,  thus  making  two  distinct  periods  in  the 
life  of  the  plant. 

During  the  first  period  of  high  and  increasing  tempera- 
ture the  plant  should  be  in  full  growth,  and  by  the  first, 
or  middle  of  August,  it  should  have  stored  up  all  the  food 
it  needs.  From  this  time  on,  a  decreasing  temperature 
is  favorable  to  the  production  of  a  maximum  crop;  for 
this  checks  the  further  growth  and  induces  the  plant  to 
convert  into  fruit  the  food  material  it  has  accumulated. 

Cotton  thus  requires  an  early  start  and  a  long  season. 
It  is  a  semi-tropical  plant,  and  must  have  semi-tropical 
weather,  long  enough  to  mature  its  fruit. 

COTTON   SOILS 

Cotton  can  be  grown  successfully  on  a  great  variety  of 
soils.  In  fact,  cotton  flourishes  almost  anywhere  in  the 
Gulf  States,  whether  the  soil  be  sand,  clay,  sandy  loam, 
limestone,  peaty  or  black  prairie  land. 

On  sandy  uplands,  the  yield  is  generally  small;  on 
clay  soils,  and  with  a  wet  season,  the  plant  may  attain 
a  large  size,  but  gives  little  lint  in  proportion  to  leaf  and 
stalk.  Rich  bottom  lands  are  apt  to  produce  results 
similar  to  those  of  clay  soils  in  a  wet  season,  and  are 
not  ideal  soils  for  cotton,  but  rather  for  corn  and  the 
grasses;  but  with  a  favorable  season  they  yield  heavily. 
The  best  type  of  soil  for  producing  favorable  results  is 
a  light  clay  loam  or  medium  heavy  sandy  loam  with  a 
subsoil  that  is  not  too  heavy  and  compact. 


10  COTTON    CULTURE 

In  the  so-called  "cotton  belt"  the  presence  of  iron 
causes  many  sands  and  clays  to  be  colored  a  more  or  less 
marked  red,  and  farmers  are  accustomed  to  call  them 
"red"  to  distinguish  them  from  "gray"  soils.  All  things 
considered,  the  red  clay  soil  may  be  considered  the  more 
favorable  of  the  two,  when  sufficiently  porous  to  be  easily 
freed  of  surface  water — a  condition  usually  indicated  by 
the  presence  of  small  quantities  of  fine  red  gravel.  The 
native  forest  growth  of  such  soils  is  generally  long-leafed 
pine,  with  hickory,  oak,  and  maple  in  the  bottoms. 

The  amount  and  distribution  of  rainfall  has  much  to 
do  with  successful  cotton  culture,  and  this  fact  should 
be  kept  in  mind  when  selecting  soils.  On  heavy  clay 
and  rich  bottom  lands,  the  crop  receiving  too  free  a  rain- 
fall frequently  becomes  diseased  or  injured  by  insect 
ravages,  or  is  delayed  in  maturing  by  rank  vegetative 
growth  until  the  appearance  of  frost.  A  good  cotton 
soil  should  maintain  uniform  conditions  of  moisture,  as 
sudden  variations  in  the  growing  season  affect  the  vitality 
of  the  plant.  Up  to  August,  the  soil  should  be  continu- 
ously moist,  but  not  wet.  A  sandy  soil  is  apt  to  be  too 
dry,  and  a  heavy  clay  soil  too  wet.  Excess  of  decaying 
organic  matter,  or  peat,  indicates  an  excess  of  nitrogen, 
as  well  as  moisture,  which  tend  to  luxuriant  growth  of 
"weed"  at  the  expense  of  fruit  and  early  maturity. 

The  young  and  tender  cotton  roots  penetrate  to  a  con- 
siderable depth.  If  the  soil  is  washed  from  around  a  well- 
grown  cotton  stalk,  a  large  number  of  fibrous  roots  will 
be  found  on  the  laterals.  The  roots  penetrate  three  and 


COTTON    CULTURE  II 

even  four  feet  deep  in  a  loamy  soil,  thus  showing  clearly 
that  the  plant  thrives  best  in  a  porous  soil  which  is  natu- 
rally or  artificially  drained  to  a  good  depth.  This  is  proved 
by  well  grown  plants  making  such  root  development  and 
also  by  the  fact  that  such  a  root  system  enables  the  plant 
to  draw  upon  a  larger  water  supply  in  case  of  drouth, 
and  to  reach  a  larger  source  of  fertilizer  supply  than 
would  be  the  case  with  a  narrow  or  contracted  root 
development. 

Physical  difficulties  in  a  soil  may  be  at  least  partially 
corrected  as  follows:  (i)  If  the  soil  be  heavy  and  wet 
and  thus  cold  in  the  spring,  and  inclined  to  bake  during 
a  drouth,  the  remedy  is  ditching,  or,  better  still,  tile  drain- 
age. This  should  be  followed  by  deep  plowing  and  sub- 
soiling  in  the  fall,  in  order  that  the  "freeze"  may  have 
a  beneficial  effect.  (2)  The  soil  may  be  improved,  if 
too  loose,  by  a  leguminous  crop  such  as  cow-peas  or  clover, 
whereby  a  large  amount  of  organic  matter  is  incorporated, 
which  checks  the  quick  dissipation  of  water  in  soils  which 
are  too  porous.  Lime,  also,  has  a  very  powerful  action 
in  opening  compact  soils,  and  in  binding  together  those 
which  are  too  loose. 

PREPARATION   OF   THE   SOIL 

Many  large  tracts  of  land,  which  the  cotton  planter  is 
called  upon  to  cultivate,  have  never  borne  any  crop  but 
their  natural  forest  covering.  It  is  always  expensive  to 
clear  the  land.  When  the  native  growth  of  wood  has  a 
commercial  value,  it  is  cut  and  sold  for  timber.  The 


12  COTTON    CULTURE 

cheapest  plan  of  getting  rid  of  the  forest  growth  is  about 
as  follows:  The  trees  are  girdled  in  autumn  or  winter, 
followed  by  "firing"  to  kill  undergrowth  and  remove 
fallen  timber.  In  many  cases  the  plow  can  be  put  at 
work  without  cutting  out  the  larger  timber,  but  then  the 
first  plowing  will  be  more  or  less  imperfect,  and  the  after 
cultivation  attended  with  considerable  difficulty.  In 
about  three  years,  however,  the  soil  may  be  worked  with 
a  fair  amount  of  profit. 

The  great,  if  not  sole  obstacle,  to  the  introduction  of 
improved  agricultural  machinery  in  cotton  culture  in  the 
South,  is  the  presence  of  roots  and  stumps  of  trees.  These 
should  be  removed  either  by  digging  out  or,  in  the  case 
of  pine  stumps,  by  burning.  Dynamite  is  sometimes 
used.  Digging  is  too  expensive  for  large  tracts,  but  may 
be  practiced  on  small  areas,  when  men  and  teams  would 
not  be  otherwise  employed.  The  small  Southern  oaks, 
which  do  not  root  deeply,  are  the  trees  most  susceptible 
to  removal  by  this  method.  There  are  several  kinds  of 
stump  pullers  which  may  be  used  effectively  and  the  man- 
ufacturers will  gladly  furnish  full  information  as  to  their 
use. 

Removing  stumps  by  the  use  of  dynamite  costs  about  five 
cents  per  stump,  and  is  a  very  simple  operation.  A  small 
cavity  is  made  under  the  roots,  the  cartridge  dropped  in, 
and  the  fuse  ignited.  There  is  no  danger  in  the  use  of  dy- 
namite if  properly  handled,  but  it  is  always  advisable  first 
to  get  instructions  from  an  experienced  person. 

If  cotton  is  to  follow  cotton,  the  old  stalks  should  be 


COTTON    CULTURE  13 

broken  down  as  early  as  possible,  so  that  they  may  have 
time  to  decay  in  the  soil.  As  the  object  is  to  get  the  soil 
into  such  a  condition  that  thorough  plowing  may  be  prac- 
ticable, many  rough-and-ready  devices  are  used,  but  a  well- 
designed  machine  "stalk-chopper"  is  the  most  economical. 

The  old-fashioned  way  of  plowing,  still  too  much  in 
vogue,  is  by  the  use  of  a  one-horse  plow,  shod  with  a  turn 
shovel.  This  crude  implement  has  largely  given  way  to 
factory-made  two-horse  plows  and  these  are  being  sub- 
stituted, to  an  increasing  extent,  by  the  modern  disk- 
plow  requiring  two  or  three  heavy  mules,  or  horses.  Such 
a  plow  will  turn  and  disintegrate  the  soil  to  the  depth  of 
eight  to  twelve  inches,  or  more,  as  may  be  desired.  It 
is  a  very  effective  implement. 

Subsoiling  is  not  now  practiced  to  the  same  extent  as 
formerly  and  is  of  doubtful  profit.  If  done  it  should  be 
confined  to  stiff  clays  and  the  work  should  be  performed 
in  the  fall  or  very  early  winter. 

With  heavy  clay  soils,  and  on  land  not  subject  to  severe 
washing,  plow  early  in  winter;  with  lighter  soils,  or  soils 
so  situated  as  to  be  subject  to  washing,  plow  only  shortly 
before  planting.  To  turn  over  a  light  soil  in  winter  means 
a  considerable  loss  of  fertilizer  by  the  drainage  of  winter 
rains.  The  general  depth  of  plowing  is  about  four  inches; 
it  should  not  be  less  than  six,  and  on  heavy  clay  soils 
eight  inches  is  better.  To  increase  the  depth  of  a  soil, 
the  plow  should  be  set  deeper  very  gradually.  A  gain 
of  one-half  inch  per  annum  is  probably  all  that  may  be 
safely  attempted. 


14  COTTON    CULTURE 

Bedding  the  Land.  The  foregoing  suggestions  in  re- 
gard to  "preparation  of  the  soil"  refer  only  to  the  broad- 
cast, preliminary  breaking  which  will  be  necessary  in 
stiff  soils  or  those  covered  with  more  or  less  trash,  weeds, 
grass,  and  the  debris  of  the  preceding  crop. 

If  the  soil  does  not  crumble  readily,  and  the  surface  is 
rough  and  uneven,  it  should  be  harrowed  once  or  twice 
before  the  time  for  putting  in  manures  and  fertilizers. 
From  two  to  three  weeks  before  planting  time  the  land 
should  be  laid  off  in  rows  varying  from  three  feet  wide, 
on  land  capable  of  producing  less  than  one  bale  of 
cotton,  to  three  and  a  half  to  four  feet  and  upwards, 
on  land  capable  of  producing  from  one  to  two  bales 
per  acre. 

The  fertilizer,  or  manure,  should  be  put  in  these  furrows, 
then  the  scooter-plow  run  in  them  to  mix  all  together 
and  finally  a  broad  list  made  by  throwing  two  furrows, 
back  to  back,  on  the  center  furrow.  If  these  listing  fur- 
rows be  made  with  a  two-horse  plow  a  very  narrow  balk 
will  be  left  to  be  split  out  just  before,  or  immediately 
after,  planting  the  crop. 

THE   WASHING   OF   SOILS 

To  check  the  damage  from  washing  as  much  as  possible, 
furrows  and  rows  should  run  with  the  contour  of  the  sur- 
face around  the  hills,  or  at  right  angles  to  the  line  of  the 
greatest  fall.  The  result  is,  that  the  furrow,  or  cotton, 
row,  crossing  the  line  of  the  fall,  offers  an  obstruction 
to  the  flow  of  water  down  the  hillside,  and,  by  dimin- 


COTTON    CULTURE  15 

ishing  the  flow  of  water,  largely  prevents  damage  by 
washing. 

The  only  effective  check  against  washing  of  soils,  es- 
pecially subject  to  it,  is  terracing.  This  consists  in  laying 
the  slope  off  into  slips  parallel  with  the  contour  of  the 
elevation;  that  is,  at  right  angles  to  the  slope.  By  this 
means,  level  steps  independent  of  each  other  are  made, 
and  the  slopes  between  them  are  seeded  to  grass  and  thus 
sod-protected.  The  foundation  lines  of  the  terrace  may 
be  accurately  laid  off  only  by  means  of  a  regular  terracing 
level,  preferably  one  with  telescopic  sights.  Such  an 
instrument  will  cost  from  ten  to  twelve  dollars.  The 
old-fashioned  "rafter"  level  does  fairly  well  for  running 
grade  rows  or  grade  ditches,  but  is  not  at  all  reliable 
for  locating  a  "dead-level"  line,  which  is  the  essential 
of  the  terracing  system.  The  makers  of  the  improved 
levels  usually  supply  a  printed  manual  of  instructions 
for  the  guidance  of  beginners. 

Each  step  thus  made  is  plowed  by  itself,  a  side-hill  01 
a  reversible  disk-plow  being  used,  and  the  furrows  are  run 
back  and  forth  along  the  edge  of  the  land  instead  of  around 
it,  and  are  turned  down  hill.  The  steps  gradually  become 
level.  The  practice  of  throwing  up  a  considerable  bank 
or  dam  along  the  line  of  the  terrace  is  not  to  be  commended, 
even  though  effective  in  preventing  the  water  from  escap- 
ing, with  destructive  force,  to  the  step  below.  It  is  better 
to  make  the  edge  of  the  terrace  perfectly  level  from  end  to 
end,  and  without  any  bank  or  dam  to  pond  up  the  water 
along  and  above  its  course.  The  correct  theory  is  to 


l6  COTTON    CULTURE 

plow  the  successive  steps,  or  inter-terraces  deeply,  so  that 
the  soil  will  absorb  any  ordinary  rainfall.  In  case  of  an 
excessive  downpour,  the  surplus  water  that  might  other- 
wise form  a  pond  will  flow  over  the  edge  in  a  continuous 
thin  sheet,  with  little  destructive  force. 

On  very  slight  slopes,  side-hill  ditching,  following  the 
contour  of  the  slope,  will  serve  to  catch  and  remove  the 
flood  of  surface  water.  These  ditches  are  easily  thrown 
up  by  the  plow. 

ROTATION    OF   CROPS 

The  chief  object  of  a  rotation  of  crops  is  to  renovate 
the  soil;  that  is,  to  give  it  a  change  in  cultural  methods. 
By  such  means  various  forms  of  insect  ravages  are  checked, 
the  mechanical  quality  of  the  soil  is  improved,  and  its 
natural  fertility  made  more  available.  The  rotation  of 
crops  is  not  always  advisable,  nor  always  economical, 
but  as  a  general  rule  it  is  useful,  inasmuch  as  it  diversi- 
fies the  products  of  the  farm.  By  including  clover,  or 
other  legumes,  such  as  cow-peas,  in  the  rotation,  the  fer- 
tilizer bill  for  nitrogen  can  be  cut  down  one-half,  as  these 
leguminous  plants  take  nitrogen  from  the  atmosphere  and 
convert  it  into  suitable  plant  food. 

In  a  climate  suitable  for  cotton  culture,  two  hoed  crops 
should  not  follow  each  other.  The  soil  under  such  cir- 
cumstances becomes  too  much  exposed  to  the  sun  and 
washing  rains.  Thus,  fertility  in  the  shape  of  organic 
matter  is  rapidly  destroyed,  or  washed  from  the  soil.  If 
the  soil  is  very  rich  in  organic  matter,  hoed  crops  may 


COTTON    CULTURE  17 

follow  each  other  in  succession,  but  it  is  an  unnecessary 
waste  of  fertility,  besides  an  injury  to  the  physical  condi- 
tion of  the  soil. 

The  common  practice  in  the  South  has  been  to  grow 
cotton  continuously,  with  small  tracts  in  corn  for  feeding 
work-stock  on  the  farm.  Then  the  corn  acreage  is  put  into 
cotton  the  following  year.  Under  usual  conditions  it  would 
not  be  profitable  to  grow  tracts  of  corn  of  such  size  that 
the  whole  plantation  would  alternately  be  in  corn  or  cot- 
ton, or,  each  year  half  cotton  and  half  corn.  Corn  is 
rarely  profitable  as  a  sale  crop  in  the  South,  hence  good 
planting  would  restrict  the  corn  acreage  to  such  tracts  as 
will  about  supply  the  needs  of  the  farm  or  plantation. 

It  is  entirely  practicable  to  so  diversify  farm  practice 
as  to  provide  for  the  home  consumption  of  much  larger 
food  crops.  This  necessitates  the  breeding  and  fattening 
of  beef  cattle,  the  production  of  milk  and  butter,  the  breed- 
ing of  horses  and  mules,  swine  for  pork  and  bacon,  sheep 
for  mutton,  and  poultry  and  eggs  for  the  table  and  for 
market.  Such  a  course  would  call  for  a  larger  production 
of  field  crops  for  food  purposes  and  at  the  same  time 
afford  a  wider  field  for  rotation,  a  larger  product  of  animal 
manures,  and  the  more  rapid  restoration  and  permanent 
improvement  of  the  soil. 

Under  such  a  system  small  grain  and  hay  would  become 
a  more  valuable  addition  to  food  resources.  The  plan 
would  permit  of  a  comparatively  equal  division  of  the 
crop  area  on  most  farms  between  cotton,  Indian  corn, 
small  grain,  cow-peas,  etc. 


1 8  COTTON    CULTURE 

A  good  rotation  would  be  as  follows: 

ist  year:    Cotton,  highly  fertilized. 

2d  ye_tr:    Corn  and  cow-peas,  moderately  fertilized. 

3d  year:  Oats  and  wheat,  highly  fertilized  and  fol- 
lowed immediately  by  cow-peas  for  hay,  fertilized  with 
potash  and  phosphoric  acid. 

If  desired,  or  more  convenient,  cotton  might  be  followed 
by  oats,  wheat,  and  other  small  grains  (and  cow-peas  for 
hay)  and  these  last  by  corn  the  next  year.  So  the  rota- 
tion would  then  read : 

ist  year:   Cotton,  highly  fertilized. 

2d  year:  Small  grain  sown  in  the  previous  fall,  highly 
fertilized,  followed  by  cow-peas  for  hay  in  the  spring. 

3d  year:   Corn  and  cow-peas. 

In  the  heart  of  the  cotton  belt,  oats  should  be  the  prin- 
cipal, if  not  the  only,  small  grain,  being  sown  in  October 
in  "open  furrows"  and  liberally  fertilized,  to  be  followed 
immediately  after  harvest  by  cow-peas  fertilized  with  acid 
phosphate  and  potash  and  the  vines  made  into  hay. 

On  the  northern  edge  of  the  cotton  belt,  and  still  further 
north,  wheat  might  be  made  the  principal  small  grain 
crop.  Likewise,  tobacco  may  be  substituted,  in  whole 
or  in  part,  for  the  cotton  in  those  sections  where  these 
two  crops  compete  with  each  other  as  money  crops. 

By  the  above-outlined  system  the  larger  part  of  the  farm 
would  be  pretty  equally  divided  between  three  crops  and 
their  incidental  or  "catch"  crops.  Other  portions  could 
be  devoted  to  various  forage  crops,  fruit,  truck,  pasture,  etc. 

The  effect  of  the  plan  would  be  to  have  one  renovating 


COTTON    CULTURE  19 

crop  every  third  year — the  small  grain  and  cow-peas — 
and  a  partial  crop  of  cow-peas  one  of  the  remaining  years 
(with  corn). 

Moreover,  the  cotton  fields  that  are  to  be  planted  to 
corn  the  following  year,  may  be  sown  down  in  September 
or  October  to  such  legumes  as  crimson  clover,  bur  clover, 
or  vetch,  and  fertilized  with  potash  and  phosphoric  acid, 
the  crop  to  be  turned  under  early  in  spring. 

In  sections  where  red  clover  succeeds  well  (limestone 
regions),  it  may  take  a  two  years'  place  in  the  rotation 
following  cotton,  intermitting  corn,  and  itself  followed 
by  small  grain. 

By  adopting  and  faithfully  following  one  of  the  above 
systems,  modified  according  to  circumstances,  it  will  be 
easy  to  bring  up,  in  three  or  four  years,  the  productive 
capacity  of  the  soil  from  one-half  bale  of  cotton,  or  twelve 
bushels  of  corn,  or  twenty  bushels  of  oats,  per  acre,  to 
double  or  even  treble  and  quadruple  these  amounts. 

A  smaller  area  in  cotton,  which  would  be  necessary 
under  such  a  plan,  may  be  made  to  produce  a  larger  num- 
ber of  bales  at  a  smaller  cost  per  pound,  and  therefore 
yield  a  larger  profit.  A  somewhat  reduced  area  in  corn 
and  a  much  increased  area  in  small  grain  and  legume 
(cow-pea)  hay,  supplemented  with  suitable  pasture,  would 
sustain  and  fatten  for  market  the  improved  animals  bred 
for  that  purpose,  and  these  would  return  to  the  soil  a  large 
quantity  of  rich  manures  for  the  improvement  and  en- 
richment thereof. 


20  COTTON    CULTURE 


MANURING    OR   FERTILIZING 

The  proper  selection  and  application  of  plant  food, 
called  manures  and  fertilizers,  is  really  the  most  im- 
portant feature  in  making  cotton  at  a  profit.  The 
planter  must  always  bear  in  mind  that  manures  or  fertil- 
izers are  useful  in  agriculture  as  plant  food  only  to  the 
extent  that  they  contain  potash,  phosphoric  acid,  and 
nitrogen.  Other  substances  are  necessary,  such  as  iron, 
silica,  lime,  etc.,  but  most  soils  contain  such  in  ample 
quantities,  with  perhaps  the  exception,  occasionally,  of 
lime.  The  mechanical  improvement  of  soils  is  quite  a 
distinct  feature  from  the  manuring  or  fertilizing  of  them. 
Both  lime  and  organic  matter  improve  the  mechanical 
condition  of  soils,  and  potash  salts  (used  in  the  form  of 
fertilizers)  increase  the  power  of  soils  to  withstand  drouth. 

It  is  important  at  the  outset  for  the  planter  to  under- 
stand fully  just  what  work  the  three  plant-food  ingre- 
dients are  expected  to  do;  for  their  work  is  precisely  the 
same,  whether  derived  from  farmyard  manure  or  mineral 
fertilizers.  All  three  ingredients,  potash,  phosphoric 
acid,  and  nitrogen,  are  absolutely  necessary.  If  any  one 
of  them  is  missing,  plants  will  not  thrive  and  grow.  In 
fact,  each  of  these  three  fertilizing  elements  has  its  own 
separate  and  individual  function,  and  one  cannot  be  sub- 
stituted for  the  other. 

All  manures  are  valuable,  almost  solely  for  the  potash, 


COTTON    CULTURE  21 

phosphoric  acid,  and  nitrogen  they  contain,  and  a  short 
account  here  of  each  may  not  be  out  of  place. 

Potash.  Potash  is  essential  to  the  formation  and 
transference  of  starch  in  plants.  Starch  is  first  formed 
in  the  leaves  of  plants,  after  which  it  becomes  soluble 
enough  in  the  plant  cells  to  pass  through  the  cell  walls 
gradually  and  later  to  be  carried  into  the  fruit,  where  it 
accumulates  and  changes  back  into  insoluble  forms,  thus 
contributing  to  the  formation  of  pulpy  matter  in  the  case 
of  fruits  and  of  lint  in  the  case  of  cotton.  Not  only  has 
this  function  of  potash  been  well  established,  but  it  has 
also  been  proved  that  no  other  element  or  substance  can 
take  the  place  of  potash  in  performing  this  work.  Potash 
is  also  important  on  account  of  its  influence  upon  the 
development  of  the  woody  parts  of  stems,  roots,  bark,  and 
branches. 

Phosphoric  Acid.  Phosphoric  acid  is  found  in  the 
seeds  of  plants,  and  it  has  been  discovered  that  plants 
cannot  come  to  maturity  unless  this  element  is  present 
in  sufficient  quantities.  It  hastens  the  maturity  of  plants 
and  tends  to  aid  the  plant  in  assimilating  other  fertilizer 
ingredients.  It  also  promotes  the  accumulation  of  al- 
buminoids in  the  seeds. 

Nitrogen.  The  influence  of  nitrogen  in  its  various 
forms  upon  plant  growth  is  shown  by  some  very  striking 
effects.  The  growth  of  stems  and  leaves  is  greatly  pro- 
moted, while  that  of  buds  and  flowers  is  retarded.  Ordi- 
narily, plants,  after  a  certain  period  of  growth,  cease  to 
produce  new  branches  and  foliage,  increasing  those  already 


Incomplete  Fertilizer  (Phosphate  and  Nitrogen).     Yield,  1780  Ibs.  Seed  Cotton. 

EXPERIMENT  BY  W.  S.  MURPHY,  WILDERSVILLE,  TENX. 


Completely  Fertilized  (Potash,  Phosphate,  and  Nitrogen). 
Yield,  2040  Ibs.  Seed  Cotton  per  acre. 

EXPERIMENT  BY  W.  S.  MURPHY,  WILDERSVILLE,  TENN. 


COTTON    CULTURE  23 

formed  very  much  more  slowly,  and  commence,  instead, 
to  produce  flowers  and  fruit.  If  a  plant  is  provided  with 
as  much  available  nitrogen  as  it  can  use  just  at  the  time 
it  begins  to  flower,  the  formation  of  flowers  may  be  checked, 
while  the  activity  of  growth  is  transferred  back  to  and 
renewed  in  stems  and  leaves,  which  take  on  a  new  vigor, 
and  increase  at  the  expense  of  fruit. 

In  the  cultivation  of  cotton,  the  apparent  action  of  nitro- 
gen is  principally  to  create  a  luxuriant  foliage ;  that  of  potash 
to  give  strength  to  the  framework  of  the  plant  and  espe- 
cially to  develop  the  production  of  lint,  while  phosphoric 
acid  regulates  the  maturity  of  the  plant  and  develops  the 
production  of  seeds. 

LOSS     OF     FERTILIZER     CONSTITUENTS 
FROM   THE   SOIL 

Potash.  It  has  been  found  by  experience  that  potash 
does  not  wash  through  the  soil  to  an  appreciable  extent, 
because  it  forms  certain  combinations  in  the  soil  which 
are  not  readily  soluble  in  water,  but  which  are,  neverthe- 
less, available  as  plant  food.  It  may,  therefore,  be  ap- 
plied to  the  soil  at  the  convenience  of  the  farmer  a  month 
or  more  in  advance  of  planting  the  crop. 

Phosphoric  Acid.  Phosphoric  acid  also  tends  to  form 
combinations  in  the  soil  which  prevent  leaching,  never- 
theless a  loss  occurs  through  the  fact  that  it  reverts  into 
compounds  which  are  less  soluble  and  less  available  to 
the  plant. 


COTTOX    CULTURE 


Nitrogen.  So  long  as  the  soil  is  covered  with  vegeta- 
tion the  loss  of  nitrogen  will  be  reduced  to  a  minimum. 
On  very  light  sandy  soils,  however,  soluble  forms  of  nitro- 
gen, such  as  nitrate  of  soda  or  sulfate  of  ammonia,  may 


Not  Fertilized.      Yield.  1209  Ibs.  Seed  Cotton  per  acre. 

EXPERIMENT  BY  T.  C.  WILLOUGHBY,  FLORENCE,  S.  C. 

be  washed  from  the  soil.  Care  should  therefore  be  used 
in  applying  them  at  intervals  in  two  or  more  applica- 
tions. 

FERTILIZERS  FOR  COTTON 

The  cotton  plant  is  a  heavy  feeder,  demanding  a  soil 
well  stored  with  readily  available  plant  food.  All  forms 
of  plant  food  must  be  soluble  before  they  can  accomplish 


Completely  Fertilized:    1500  Ibs.  per  acre  of  a  mixture  containing  2  %  Nitrogen, 
6  %  Phosphoric  acid,  and  8  %  Potash.     Yield,  2178  Ibs.  Seed  Cotton  per  acre. 

EXPERIMENT  BY  T.  C.  WILLOUGHBY,  FLORENCE,  S.  C. 


Incompletely  Fertilized:  1020  Ibs.  per  acre  of  a  mixture  containing  8%  Phosphoric 
acid  and  3  %  Nitrogen.    No  Potash.     Yield,  1962  Ibe.  Seed  Cotton  per  acre. 

EXPERIMENT  BY  T.  C.  WILLOUGHBY,  FLORENCE,  S.  C. 
25 


26  COTTON    CULTURE 

any  useful  purpose.  The  roots  are  the  organs  of  food 
absorption,  more  especially  the  fibrous  roots,  which  branch 
off  on  all  sides  and  do  not  seek  low  levels. 

The  object  of  fertilizing  is  to  make  good  the  losses  of 
potash,  phosphoric  acids,  and  nitrogen  taken  up  by  pre- 
vious crops,  or  losses  by  leaching,  washing,  etc.,  and  to 
induce  a  larger  production  than  before.  The  mere  analy- 
sis of  a  soil  forms  no  reliable  guide  to  its  effectiveness. 
A  soil  may  contain  large  stores  of  potash,  phosphoric 
acid,  and  nitrogen,  and  still  fail  to  grow  remunerative 
crops,  simply  because  4hese  natural  supplies  are  in  such  a 
form  as  to  remain  insoluble,  and  thus  resist  all  efforts  of 
the  plant  to  make  use  of  them. 

As  a  general  rule,  with  but  few  exceptions,  all  fertilizers 
for  cotton  should  contain  the  three  essential  ingredients — 
potash,  phosphoric  acid,  and  nitrogen,  in  proper  propor- 
tions. The  exceptions  are: 

(1)  When  the  soil  to  be  planted  is  ''new  ground"  or 
"fresh"  from  the  forest. 

(2)  When  planting  onflow,  moist,  dark-colored  bottom 
lands. 

In  each  of  the  above  cases  there  is  usually  present  in 
the  soil  a  good  supply  of  nitrogen,  as  evidenced  by  the 
"weed"  growing  too  luxuriantly  and  bearing  its  crop  of 
fruit  too  late  to  mature.  Therefore,  a  fertilizer  contain- 
ing a  very  small  percentage  of  nitrogen,  or  none  at  all, 
would  be  required. 

In  all  cases,  the  larger  the  amount  of  fertilizer  to  be  ap- 
plied per  acre,  the  more  important  it  will  be  to  properly 


COTTON    CULTURE  27 

proportion,  or  "balance,"  the  three  essential  ingredients. 
If  there  be  present  in  the  soil  enough  phosphoric  acid  and 
nitrogen  to  produce  three  hundred  pounds  of  lint  per 
acre,  but  only  enough  potash  to  produce  one  hundred 
pounds,  the  crop  cannot  exceed  the  one  hundred  pounds. 
A  chain  is  no  stronger  than  its  weakest  link. 

FERTILIZER   FORMULAS    FOR   COTTON 

It  was  once  supposed  that  a  careful  analysis  of  a  given 
soil  would  indicate  correctly  the  character  and  composi- 
tion of  the  fertilizer  proper  for  such  soil.  But  this  sup- 
position has  not  been  realized,  except  to  a  very  limited 
extent,  in  cases  of  peculiar  soils  and  it  is  no  longer  relied 
on.  It  is  conceded  that  actual  field  tests  are  reliable 
when  properly  planned  and  carried  out.  Many  hundreds 
and  perhaps  thousands  of  such  experiments  .were  made 
at  Experiment  Stations  of  the  Southern  States  in  order 
to  determine  these  questions  and  the  results  are  not  as 
divergent  as  might  be  expected  from  the  fact  that  the 
Stations  are  located  on  soils  of  varying  character  and 
formation. 

There  is  more  promise  of  a  needed  guide  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  chemical  composition  of  the  crop  to  be  cul- 
tivated. We  know  that  any  given  crop  removes  from 
the  soil  certain  quantities  of  potash,  phosphoric  acid,  and 
nitrogen;  therefore,  it  seems  reasonable  to  conclude  that 
the  return  of  these  quantities  of  fertilizer  ingredients  to 
the  soil  will  restore  its  normal  fertility. 

The  following   chemical   analysis   of  a  cotton   plant  is 


28 


COTTON    CULTURE 


taken  from  official  sources  and  is  thoroughly  reliable. 
It  is  based  on  the  growth  of  one  hundred  pounds  of  lint 
showing  the  amounts,  of  plant-food  elements  removed 
from  the  soil. 


Potash. 

Phosphoric 
Acid. 

Nitrogen. 

Roots  (83  Ibs  ) 

I    06 

O    43 

o    76 

Steins  (219  Ibs.)    

•?    OQ 

I  .  2Q 

3  .  20 

Leaves  (102  Ibs  ) 

34.6 

2     28 

6   16 

Bolls  (135  Ibs  ) 

2    44 

I  .  3O 

•2  .  A-I 

Seed  (218  Ibs.)  

2  .  <c  t; 

2  .  77 

6.82 

Lint  (100  Ibs  ) 

46 

IO 

-)A 

.    j^2 

Total  Crop  (947  Ibs.)  

13.06 

8.17 

20.  71 

It  is  evident  from  this  analysis  that  a  crop  of  100  pounds 
of  lint  will  remove  from  the  soil  13.06  pounds  of  potash, 
8.17  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  20.7  pounds  of  nitro- 
gen. .  Yet  the  proportions  found  by  analysis  are  not 
found  to  give  the  best  results  in  actual  practice;  because 
account  must  be  taken  of  the  great  losses  that  occur  through 
heavy  washing  rains  which  remove  plant  food  from  the 
soil;  also,  that  nitrogen  is  sometimes  lost  by  the  action 
of  bacteria,  as  may  be  noticed  in  the  decomposing  manure 
pile,  while  phosphoric  acid  is  likely  to  become  "unavail- 
able" in  the  soil  through  its  tendency  to  take  insoluble 
forms  when  brought  into  contact  with  lime  and  other 
materials  existing  in  the  natural  soil.  For  this  reason  it 
is  well  to  use  more  fertilizer  than  just  what  is  shown  to  be 
needed  by  the  chemical  analysis  of  the  crop. 


COTTON    CULTURE  29 

After  all,  since  not  much  reliance  can  be  placed  on  the 
analysis  of  the  soil  and  since  the  analysis  of  the  crop  cannot 
be  relied  upon  implicitly,  the  actual  soil-fertilizer  test  in 
the  field  is  the  best  and  most  reliable  guide  to  the  compo- 
sition of  a  fertilizer  for  certain  crops  and  for  certain  soils. 
We  must  ask  the  soil,  and  also  the  crop  to  be  grown  upon 
it,  what  plant  food  ingredients  and  in  what  proportions 
they  will  give  the  best  results.  This  question,  answered 
by  the  soil  and  the  crops  themselves,  serves  admirably  as 
a  guide  in  computing  a  fertilizer  formula  for  a  particular 
crop  on  all  soils  of  similar  character  and  condition. 

Bulletin  No.  33  of  the  office  of  Experiment  Stations,  of 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  recommends 
for  cotton  approximately  seven  hundred  pounds  per  acre 
of  a  fertilizer  having  the  following  composition: 

Potash 3  per   cent. 

Available  phosphoric  acid 9 

Nitrogen 3      "       " 

The  Georgia  Experiment  Station,  perhaps  the  most 
prolific  in  experiments  of  this  character,  recommends  the 
following  percentage  formula  for  cotton  on  the  average 
worn  uplands  of  middle  Georgia: 

Potash 3  per  cent. 

Available  phosphoric  acid 10 

Nitrogen 3      "       " 

or  potash  i    part,  phosphoric   acid  3^  parts,  and  nitrogen 
i    part. 

A  standard  mixture   of  fertilizer  materials  which  will 


30  COTTON    CULTURE 

supply  the  three  valuable  ingredients  in  this  latter  pro- 
portion is  as  follows : 

Muriate  of  potash   70    Ibs. 

Acid  phosphate  (14  per  cent)     833      " 

Cotton-seed  meal 333 

Nitrate  of  soda    100      " 


Total i,336 

or,  if  one  should  prefer  that  the  formula  add  up  to  one  ton, 
then  mix  as  follows : 

Muriate  of  potash 105    Ibs. 

Acid  phosphate  (14  per  cent)    1,245 

Cotton-seed  meal 500      " 

Nitrate  of  soda 150      " 


Total 2,000 

These  formulas  are  practical  summaries  of  many  com- 
binations of  fertilizer  which  have  been  fairly  successful 
in  actual  field  tests  and  are  general  formulas  suggested  for 
average  conditions  as  nearly  as  can  be  determined.  How- 
ever, soils  differ  widely  in  different  sections  of  the  country, 
and  a  more  detailed  study  of  the  treatment  of  soils  is 
given  below.  The  nature  of  the  soil  is  not  the  only  point 
to  be  noted  in  compounding  a  fertilizer.  The  previous 
cropping  of  the  soil  and  its  physical  character  are  very 
important  matters.  If  a  rotation  is  practiced,  it  has  a 
very  considerable  bearing  on  the  fertilizer. 

Light,  sandy  soils,  those  of  the  long-leaf ed-pine  type, 
are  usually  very  deficient  in  potash  as  well  as  nitrogen, 
and  especially  when  worn  and  old.  Therefore,  the  for- 


COTTON    CULTURE  31 

mulas  should  be  so  modified  as  to  carry  relatively  more 
potash  and  more  nitrogen.  This  may  be  done  by  increasing 
the  quantity  of  muriate  of  potash  by  fifty  per  cent  or  even 
more  in  some  cases,  and  the  cotton-seed  meal  by  twenty- 
five  to  fifty  per  cent,  but  on  light  sandy  soils  that  have 
been  brought  up  by  rotation  of  crops,  green  manuring 
and  the  use  of  horse  and  cattle  manure,  the  nitrogen  car- 
rying ingredients,  may  be  proportionately  diminished  by 
from  twenty-five  to  fifty  per  cent.  Therefore,  for  light 
sandy  soils,  the  following  formula  is  recommended: 

Muriate  of  potash   102  Ibs. 

Acid  phosphate  (14  per  cent)     642  " 

Cotton-seed  meal 636  " 

Dry  sand  or  earth  filler    120 


Total i  ,500 

This  mixture  would  analyze  about  four  per  cent  potash, 
seven  per  cent  phosphoric  acid,  and  three  per  cent  nitrogen. 

In  case  it  should  be  desired  to  mix  a  ton  of  the  above 
mixture,  the  following  quantities  should  be  used: 

Muriate  of  potash 136  Ibs. 

Acid  phosphate  (14  per  cent)     847  " 

Cotton-seed  meal 857  " 

Dry  sand  or  earth  filler    160  " 


Total 2,000 

As  the  soils  tone  up  from  "light  sandy"  to  those  of  the 
same  type  but  of  darker  color  and  more  loamy  character, 
such  as  may  be  described  as  "sandy  loams,"  "medium 
loams,"  and  to  the  still  higher  type  of  "clay  soils,"  the 
formula  should  more  and  more  approximate  to  the  stand- 


32  COTTON    CULTURE 

ard  of  three  per  cent  potash,  ten  per  cent  available  phos- 
phoric acid,  and  three  per  cent  nitrogen. 

Where  the  soil  has  been  improved  by  rotation  and  reno- 
vating crops,  the  nitrogen  may  be  reduced  in  amount, 
until  at  last  but  little  of  this  ingredient  will  be  required 
except  a  small  amount  of  nitrate  of  soda  (twenty-five  to 
thirty  pounds  per  acre),  in  the  furrow  with  the  seed  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  the  young  plants  a  vigorous  start. 

WHEN.  AND    HOW   TO    APPLY    FERTILIZERS 

When  the  drill  is  used,  distribute  the  fertilizer  in  a  deep 
furrow,  and  mix  it  by  running  a  scooter  furrow  through 
it.  In  very  large  applications,  it  will  be  a  good  practice 
to  divide  the  quantity  between  the  center  furrow  and  the 
two  listing  furrows.  The  simplest  method  is  to  open  a 
furrow  and  sow  the  fertilizer  through  the  drill,  covering 
with  a  harrow  or  bedding  it  on  with  a  turn  plow.  If  the 
weather  is  windy,  it  will  be  found  advantageous  to  drop 
the  fertilizer  through  a  long  tin  tube  and  thus  prevent  it 
from  scattering. 

The  best  method  of  applying  fertilizer  is  by  the  use  of 
a  machine  distributor,  drawn  by  a  horse.  There  are  sev- 
eral very  good  ones  on  the  market,  and  they  are  great 
labor  savers  as  they  open  the  furrow,  sow  the  fertilizer,  and 
cover  it  up  all  in  one  operation.  The  plan  is  to  apply 
about  six  inches  deep  through  the  drill  and  cover  up  so 
that  the  seed  will  lie  about  two  inches  above  the  fertilizer. 
The  seed  should  not  come  in  contact  with  the  fertilizer,  par- 


COTTON    CULTURE 


33 


ticularly  when    cotton-seed   meal   is   the   nitrogenous   in- 
gredient. 

In  applying  fertilizers,  bulk  is  often  desirable,  but  it 
should  always  be  borne  in  mind  that,  in  purchasing,  the 
object  should  be  to  secure  as  much  potash,  phosphoric 
acid,  and  nitrogen,  in  an  available  form,  as  possible  for  a 


Unfertilized.  Complete  Fertilizer.  Incomplete  Fertilizer. 

627  Ibs.  Seed  Cotton  per  acre.  (Potash  as  Kainit.)  (No  potash.) 

1356  Ibs.  Seed  Cotton  per  acre.      981  Ibs.  Seed  Cotton. 

FERTILIZER  TEST  BY  J.  M.  CRUTCHFIELD,  CULLMAN,  ALA. 

dollar,  instead  of  as  many  pounds  as  possible  of  fertilizer, 
regardless  of  the  amount  of  this  plant  food.  Thus,  it  is 
more  economical  to  purchase  one  ton  of  high-grade  ferti- 
lizer than  three  tons  of  a  low-grade  fertilizer,  for  the  reason 
that  one  ton  of  the  former  contains  the  same  amount  of 


34  COTTON    CULTURE 

plant  food  as  is  contained  in  three  tons  of  the  latter;  while, 
in  making  the  latter,  three  times  as  many  packages  are 
required,  three  times  as  much  freight  must  be  paid,  and 
the  labor  involved  in  handling  is  about  three  times  as 
great. 

Fertilizers    should   be    finely   ground   and   dry.     When 
damp,  they  clog  the  drills  and  may  start  decomposition 


Fertilized  with  Acid  Phosphate  and  Cotton-Seed  Meal  (No  Potash). 
Yield,  1 230  Ibs.  Seed  Cotton  per  acre. 

EXPERIMENT  BY  J.  W.  TREADWELL,  TALLADEGA  SPRINGS,  ALA. 

too  soon,  so  that,  in  many  forms  of  organic  matter,  loss 
of  ammonia  results. 

Concentrated  fertilizer  chemicals  may  be  increased  in 
bulk  by  mixing  with  dry  earth  or  sand,  and  such  mixing 


COTTON    CULTURE  35 

will  make  an  equable  distribution  easier.  Materials,  not 
readily  soluble  in  water,  such  as  stable  manure,  cotton 
seed,  bone  meal,  etc.,  should  be  applied  to  the  soil  some 
time  before  planting,  say  not  less  than  two  weeks;  pot- 
ash and  acid  phosphate  should  also  be  applied  early. 
Potash  may  be  applied  to  advantage  several  weeks  before 
planting  time  and  without  danger  of  loss,  except  in  the  case 


Completely  Fertilized.     Kainit,  Phosphate,  and  Cotton-Seed  Meal. 
Yield,  1992  Ibs.  Seed  Cotton  per  acre. 

FERTILIZER  TEST  BY  J.  W.  TREADWELL,  TALLADEGA  SPRINGS,  ALA. 

of  very  light  sandy  soils  which  contain  little  organic  matter. 
If  application  of  the  fertilizer  has  been  delayed  until  the 
crop  has  commenced  to  grow,  care  should  be  taken  that 
it  does  not  come  in  actual  contact  with  the  foliage. 


36  COTTON    CULTURE 

On  soils  of  loose  texture  and  small  retentive  power,  it 
is  best  to  apply  at  time  of  planting  and  to  use,  for  the  most 
part,  fertilizers  containing  nitrogen  in  a  form  which  is 
not  too  easily  soluble,  in  order  to  make  losses  occasioned 
by  heavy  rains  as  small  as  possible.  Animal  and  vege- 
table ingredients  are  especially  suited  for  such  cases. 

Fertilizers  containing  ammonia  compounds  should  not 
be  mixed  with  wood  ashes,  lime,  or  Thomas  slag  (odorless 
phosphate),  since  some  of  the  ammonia  is  likely,  under 
such  conditions,  to  be  liberated  and  lost;  nor  should  these 
substances  be  mixed  with  acid  phosphate,  because  they 
render  the  phosphoric  acid  less  available. 

Intel-cultural  Fertilizing.  The  application  of  fertiliz- 
ers during  the  growing  period  of  the  crop  is  quite 
plausible  in  theory,  but  its  wisdon  is  not  confirmed  in 
actual  practice.  This  is  especially  true  in  regard  to  phos- 
phates and  potash  salts.  These  do  not  leach  out  of  the 
soil  to  any  considerable  extent  and  they  require  consider- 
able time  to  get  into  condition  to  be  effective.  It  is  per- 
missible and  advisable  to  make  one  or  more  intercultural 
applications  of  readily  soluble  nitrogenous  ingredients  such 
as  nitrate  of  soda  and  sulphate  of  ammonia,  especially  in 
case  the  fertilizer  applied  at  the  usual  time  (before  planting) 
was  deficient  in  nitrogen.  For  this  purpose,  nitrate  of 
soda  is  probably  the  most  desirable.  A  small  quantity, 
say  twenty-five  or  thirty  pounds  per  acre,  applied  to  the 
furrows  with  the  planting  of  seed,  or  scattered  along  on 
the  surface  immediately  above  the  covered  seed,  increases 
the  strength  and  vigor  of  the  young  cotton  plants. 


COTTON    CULTURE  37 

Experience  seems  to  indicate  that  these  intercultural 
applications  of  nitrate  of  soda  should  not  be  deferred  until 
a  later  period  than  about  the  time  the  blooms  commence 
to  appear  and  never  in  larger  quantities  than  one  hundred 
pounds  per  acre  at  any  one  time. 

FERTILIZING  MATERIALS   FROM  THE   FARM 

In  order  to  use  farmyard  manure  to  the.  best  advantage 
on  the  average  soil,  it  must  be  supplemented  with  commer- 
cial fertilizers  containing  available  phosphoric  acid  and 
potash.  As  a  general  rule,  with  every  ton  of  stable  manure 
applied,  there  should  be  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  pounds 
of  acid  phosphate  and  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  pounds 
of  high-grade  muriate  of  potash  or  sulfate  of  potash. 

In  rotted  manure  the  fertilizer  constituents  are,  as  a 
rule,  more  readily  available  for  the  use  of  plants.  Rotted 
manure  is  less  bulky  and  more  easily  distributed  than 
fresh  manure.  It  is  also  less  likely  to  promote  the  too- 
rapid  growth  of  stems  and  leaves  as  in  the  case  of  fresh 
manure.  For  the  improvement  of  the  mechanical  con- 
dition of  a  soil,  the  best  results  will  be  obtained  by  using 
rotted  manure  on  light  soils.  It  must,  however,  be  re- 
membered that  on  such  soils  there  is  more  or  less  danger 
that  some  portion  of  the  valuable  fertilizing  constituents 
may  be  leached  out  and  lost.  On  this  account  it  has  been 
found  advisable  to  apply  such  manure  to  light  soils  only 
a  short  time  before  it  is  needed  by  the  crop,  and  the  spring 
is  usually  the  right  time  to  apply  such  rotted  manure. 
In  warm,  moist  climates,  it  matters  less  whether  the  manure 


38  COTTON    CULTURE 

is  applied  in  a  fresh  or  rotted  condition.  In  cold,  dry 
climates,  however,  the  use  of  decomposed  manure  is  much 
preferable. 

The  following  three  methods  of  applying  manure  on  the 
field  are  in  common  practice,  viz.: 

Applying  in  Heaps.  By  this  method  the  manure  is 
distributed  in  heaps  over  the  field  and  permitted  to  stand 
some  time  before  being  spread.  This  method  is  objec- 
tionable for  several  reasons.  The  labor  of  handling  is 
increased;  there  is  danger  of  loss  from  decomposition  and 
leaching;  the  manure  is  not  uniformly  distributed,  the 
spots  immediately  beneath  the  heaps  being  more  thor- 
oughly manured  on  account  of  the  leaching.  Storing 
manure  in  very  large  heaps  is  less  objectionable,  provided 
the  heap  is  carefully  covered  with  earth,  kept  moist,  and 
not  allowed  to  stand  too  long. 

Applying  Broadcast  or  in  the  Rows.  When  the  crop  is 
one  that  is  grown  in  rows,  as  is  the  case  with  cotton, 
also  corn,  drilled  peas,  sugar  cane,  sorghum,  etc.,  the  fer- 
tilizer should  be  deposited  underneath  the  rows  and  bedded 
on,  although  where  large  amounts  are  to  be  applied,  it  is 
safer  to  broadcast  the  excess  above  the  ordinary  amounts 
supplied  in  the  rows,  in  just  the  same  manner  as  with  crops 
which  grow  broadcast;  as,  for  instance,  the  smaller  grains 
(not  planted  in  drill),  cow-peas,  grasses,  etc.  Repeated  ex- 
periments at  the  Georgia  Experiment  Station  have  resulted 
in  securing  double  the  increased  yield  of  cotton  where  one 
thousand  pounds  of  concentrated  fertilizers  were  applied 
in  the  cotton  rows  as  compared  with  the  increased  yield 


COTTON    CULTURE  39 

from  the  same  amount  applied  broadcast  over  the  same 
surface  and  plowed  in,  etc.  The  fertilizer  should  be  ap- 
plied deep  enough  to  avoid  the  drying-out  effect  of  a  severe 
drouth,  and  no  definite  rules  can  be  laid  down  as  to  the 
exact  depth  to  which  fertilizers  should  be  applied  since 
this  will  depend  upon  the  depth  of  the  soil  and  local  con- 
ditions as  to  drainage,  etc. 

NATURE    OF    FARM-MADE    MANURES 

Stable  and  farmyard  manure  consists  of  the  solid  and 
liquid  excrements  of  animals  fed  on  the  farm,  the  excre- 
ments being  usually  mixed  with  straw  and  waste  products 
of  the  farm. 

Horse  manure  is  difficult  to  mix  thoroughly  with  litter 
on  account  of  its  dryness.  It  is  called  a  "hot"  manure. 
On  account  of  its  loose  texture  it  easily  undergoes  decom- 
position or  fermentation,  producing  a  high  degree  of  heat. 
Horse  manure  is  very  liable  to  lose  more  or  less  of  its 
nitrogen  by  the  escape  of  ammonia. 

Sheep  manure  is  quite  dry,  and  is  commonly  the  richest 
of  farm-produced  manures.  Like  horse  manure,  it  under- 
goes fermentation  easily,  and  is  classed  as  a  "hot"  manure. 
It  is  also  very  liable  to  lose  ammonia. 

Pig  manure  varies  greatly  in  composition,  but  is  gen- 
erally rich  as  compared  with  other  farm-produced  ferti- 
lizer materials,  yet  contains  considerable  water.  In 
decomposing,  it  produces  but  little  heat,  and  is  therefore 
called  a  "cold"  manure. 

Cow  manure  contains,  as  a  rule,  less  fertilizing   mate- 


COTTON    CULTURE 


rials  than  any  of  the  above-mentioned  manures.  It  has 
a  large  percentage  of  water,  and,  in  decomposing,  generates 
but  little  heat. 

Poultry  manure  contains  a  comparatively  large  amount 
of  all  the  different  forms  of  plant  food,  being  especially 
rich  in  ammonia  and  phosphates.  It  undergoes  fermen- 
tation readily,  and  loses  ammonia  unless  properly  treated 
with  absorbents  or  preservatives. 

AVERAGE   COMPOSITION  OF  THE  MOST  IMPORTANT 
FARM  MANURES. 


Manures. 

Potash. 

Phosphoric 
Acid. 

Nitrogen. 

Lime. 

(K20) 

(P206) 

N1 

CaO 

Cow  manure    (fresh)  .  .  . 

o  .  40 

o  .  16 

o-34 

0.31 

Horse      "              " 

0-53 

0.28 

0.58 

0.  21 

Sheep 

o  .  67 

0.23 

0.83 

0-33 

Hog         "              M        ... 

o  .60 

o  .  19 

0-45 

0.08 

Hen  dung              "         ... 

0.85 

0-54 

1.63 

0.24 

Mixed  stable  manure 

0.63 

o.  26 

o  .  50 

o.  70 

As  a  rule,  manure  produced  from  working  or  fattening 
animals  contains  from  ninety  to  ninety-five  per  cent  of 
the  fertilizing  constituents  contained  in  the  food  of  these 
animals.  Manure  made  from  cows  in  milk,  and  from 
young  growing  animals  contains  from  seventy-five  to 
eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  fertilizing  constituents  contained 
in  the  food.  In  the  case  of  animals  which  are  neither 
increasing  in  weight,  nor  giving  milk,  the  amount  of  fer- 
tilizing materials  in  the  manure  will  be  nearly  equal  to 
that  contained  in  the  food  eaten.  The  foregoing  state- 


COTTON    CULTURE  4J 

ments  presuppose  that  all  the  dung  and  urine  are  saved, 
a  supposition  which  is  not  often  true,  considering  the 
manner  in  which  stable  manure  is  commonly  treated. 

Perhaps  the  element  of  manures  least  understood  is 
the  humic  matter,  of  which  ordinary  manure  contains 
from  six  to  ten  per  cent.  The  litter  used  in  bedding  stock 
furnishes  much  of  this,  the  quantity  depending  upon  the 
nature  of  the  material  used. 

PROPER  CARE  OF  FARM-MADE  MANURES 

Farm-made  manures  suffer  loss  from  leaching  or  wash- 
ing away  of  the  soluble  fertilizing  ingredients  and  from 
chemical  decomposition.  Losses  from  leaching  may  be 
checked  by  building  a  covered  manure  shed,  and  by  the 
use  of  ample  supplies  of  bedding  material.  If  plenty  of 
bedding  material  is  used,  it  will  absorb  the  liquid  portions 
of  the  manure,  and  thus,  in  a  large  measure,  prevent  the 
loss  of  large  amounts  of  plant  food  contained  in  the  urine. 
In  disposing  of  stable  manure  the  modern  method  is  to 
be  preferred,  as  it  not  only  saves  much  labor  of  handling, 
but  there  is  less  loss  of  valuable  nitrogen  from  over-heat- 
ing (fire-f anging) .  It  consists  in  hauling  the  green  or 
partly-rotted  manure  directly  to  the  field,  spreading  it 
and  plowing  it  under.  This  method  does  not  entirely 
obviate  the  necessity  of  storing  the  manure  as  it  comes  from 
the  stalls  under  a  shed,  where  it  may  be  occasionally  wet- 
ted with  water  to  prevent  over-heating.  Kainit,  or  acid 
phosphate,  may  be  sprinkled  over  the  manure  in  the  stalls, 


42  COTTON    CULTURE 

or  under  the  manure  shed,  in  order  to  "fix"  the  ammonia 
and  prevent  its  escape  in  the  form  of  gas. 

PLANTING  THE   SEED 

Width  of  Rows  and  Spacing.  It  has  already  been 
elsewhere  suggested  that  the  width  of  cotton  rows  should 
not  be  greater  than  three  to  three  and  a  half  feet  on  soil 
capable  of  producing  one  bale  or  less  per  acre.  As  the 
soil  increases  in  natural  productive  capacity,  or  is  im- 
proved artificially  so  as  to  produce  a  crop  of  two  bales 
per  acre,  the  rows  should  be  proportionately  wider.  On 
the  ordinary  worn  uplands  of  the  South,  not  capable  of 
a  yield  exceeding  one-half  bale  per  acre,  three  feet  be- 
tween rows  is  wide  enough.  With  a  possible  yield 
of  one  to  one  and  a  half  bales,  the  width  should  be  three 
and  a  half  to  four  feet.  On  rich  low  grounds  and  on  the 
rich  black  soils  of  the  Gulf  States,  greater  width  may  be 
found  desirable  or  necessary. 

Spacing  in  the  Rows.  Experiments  repeated  through 
a  period  of  five  years  at  the  Georgia  Experiment  Station 
show  that  the  best  results  in  cotton  production  are  secured 
by  spacing  the  plants  as  nearly  "on  a  square"  as  other 
considerations  will  permit.  With  plants  in  three-foot 
rows  and  two  feet  apart  the  yield  was  always  larger  than 
when  they  were  in  four-foot  rows  by  one  and  a  half  feet 
in  the  row ;  and  the  yield  of  the  last  was  greater  than  when 
the  rows  were  five  feet  and  the  plants  fourteen  and  four- 
tenths  inches.  The  lowest  yield  was  where  the  rows  were 


COTTON    CULTURE  43 

six  feet  wide  ana'  the  plants  one  foot  apart.  In  all  these 
cases  the  space  assigned  to  each  plant  was  exactly  equal, 
being  six  square  feet.  It  was  also  noticeable  that  the  per- 
centage of  a  full  stand  was  higher  in  proportion  as  the 
plants  were  more  nearly  "on  a  square. " 

From  other  carefully  conducted  experiments  it  is  safe 
to  conclude  that,  with  one  plant  to  every  four  square  feet, 
the  yield  will  be  greater  than  from  any  larger  plant  area, 
and  that  the  four  square  feet  should  approximate  a  square 
shape  as  closely  as  consideration  of  increased  cost  of  cul- 
tivation may  permit.  With  rows  three  feet  wide  this 
area  of  four  square  feet  would  be  secured  by  having  one 
plant  every  sixteen  inches. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  soil  upon  which 
the  experiments  were  performed  was  typical  middle- Geor- 
gia "upland,"  brought  up  from  a  worn,  almost-exhausted, 
condition  to  a  yield  of  one  to  one  and  a  quarter  bales  of 
cotton  per  acre  with  the  aid  of  judicious  fertilization  and 
rotation.  On  similar  soils  not  so  improved,  but  capable 
of  a  yield  of  one-half  bale  per  acre  (aided  by  fertilizers), 
the  rows  should  be  three  feet  wide  and  the  plants  spaced 
at  ten  to  twelve  inches  in  the  rows.  It  is  well  to  bear  in 
mind  that  an  imperfect  stand,  either  from  frequent  missing 
places,  or  from  too  wide  spacing,  is  one  of  the  commonest 
faults  of  upland-cotton  culture  and  probably  causes  a  greater 
loss  than  does  any  defect  of  cultivation. 

Varieties.  There  is  practically  "no  end"  to  the  num- 
ber of  so-called  varieties  of  cotton,  very  few  of  which  possess 
any  distinctive  and  peculiar  characteristics.  King's  Im- 


44  COTTON    CULTURE 

proved,  a  very  early  variety,  is  probably  the  most  distinct 
and  persistent  type  in  common  cultivation,  and  is  the  parent 
of  dozens  of  other  sub-varieties  differing,  chiefly  or  entirely, 
only  in  name.  The  early  varieties,  of  which  King  is  the 
type,  are  to  be  recommended  for  planting  in  high  latitudes 
and  altitudes,  or  "fresh"  lands,  low-lying  bottoms,  or 
whenever  late  planting  is  necessary. 

Experiments  at  the  stations  show  that  in  the  heart  of 
the  cotton  belt  a  medium  or  even  a  rather  late  variety, 
under  ordinary  conditions,  will  give  better  results  three 
years  in  four  than  will  the  very  early  variety. 

The  ideal  variety  is  the  one  that  has  a  strong,  vigorous 
stalk,  medium  to  large  bolls,  and  that  continues  to  grow 
and  bear  until  late  in  the  fall.  It  is  advised  that  every 
farmer  should  be  guided  by  the  variety  tests  at  the  several 
stations.  It  may  be  well  to  add  that  for  several  years 
past,  there  has  been  an  increasing  demand  for  upland  long 
staple  from  mills  engaged  in  producing  certain  grades 
of  goods  requiring  a  longer  fiber  than  is  afforded  by  the 
common  upland  short  staples,  and  it  may  prove  a  wise 
thing  to  meet  this  demand.  It  is  unfortunately  true,  how- 
ever, that  the  upland  long  staple  varieties  are  much  less 
productive  in  pounds  of  seed  cotton  and  particularly  in 
the  percentage  yield  of  lint.  To  prove  equally  profitable, 
the  upland  long  staple  should  command  a  price  from 
twenty-five  to  fifty  per  cent  higher  than  the  short  staples. 

Selection  of  Seed.  Every  intelligent  cotton  grower 
should  devote  much  care  to  the  annual  selection  of  seed, 
with  the  view  to  maintaining  and  increasing  the  product- 


COTTON    CULTURE  45 

iveness  and  other  desirable  qualities.  The  following  on 
this  subject  is  taken  from  Bulletin  No.  75  of  the  Georgia 
Experiment  Station  (1906): 

"In  the  early  fall  every  farmer  should  make  careful 
selections  of  the  best  bolls  from  the  plants  he  judges  to 
be  the  best.  The  seed  cotton  from  each  of  these  bolls 
should  be  placed  in  a  separate  package,  and  given  a  num- 
ber to  correspond  with  the  plant  which  produced  it.  The 
total  product  of  each  plant  should  likewise  be  separately 
preserved,  noting  the  number  of  bolls  as  well  as  the  total 
weight,  and  finding  out  the  percentage  yield  of  lint.  Hav- 
ing now  all  the  facts  attainable  in  regard  to  each  plant, 
it  will  be  easy  to  determine  approximately  which  is  the 
best  plant,  and  to  plant  the  seed  from  the  reserved  first- 
selected  bolls  under  the  most  favorable  conditions.  The 
operation  should  be  repeated  every  year,  using  the  main 
product  of  the  best  stalks  to  plant  a  seed  patch,  and  the 
seeds  from  the  few  selected  first-choice  bolls  to  plant  the 
next  breeding  patch." 

The  possibilities  of  the  improvement  of  our  varieties 
of  cotton  are  very  large.  There  is  no  known  reason  why 
the  size  of  bolls,  the  percentage  yield  of  lint,  the  length, 
fineness,  and  strength  of  the  fibers  may  not  be  greatly 
increased  by  careful  selection  and  cross-breeding.  Why 
not  increase  the  size  of  the  bolls  to  "  16  to  i  "  or  until  each 
boll  shall  yield  one  ounce  of  seed  cotton?  Why  not  in- 
crease the  percentage  yield  of  lint  until  it  shall  average 
fifty  per  cent  or  higher? 

Possibly,  if  all  the  money  and  energy  that  have  been 


46  COTTON    CULTURE 

expended  to  invent  a  cotton  harvester  had  been  expended 
in  diligent  efforts  to  increase  the  size  of  the  bolls,  the 
problem  of  harvesting  the  cotton  crop  would  have  been 
solved.  With  bolls  weighing  one  ounce,  a  smart  laborer 
might  "pick,"  in  the  ordinary  way,  one  thousand  to  fifteen 
hundred  pounds  of  seed  cotton  in  a  day. 

Method  of  Planting.  (The  Seed  Bed.)  Under  the 
head  of  "Bedding  the  Land,"  the  method  of  making  this 
final  preparation  for  the  reception  of  the  seed  has  been 
given.  It  is  important  that  the  seed  be  deposited  in  a 
fresh,  smooth,  moist  bed,  which  may  be  secured  by  har- 
rowing down  (if  necessary)  and  boarding  off  the  beds, 
using  for  this  purpose  a  two  by  ten-inch  board,  five  to  six 
feet  long,  a  pair  of  shafts  attached,  and,  drawn  by  one 
horse,  striking  off  two  rows  at  the  same  time.  This  should 
be  done  immediately  in  advance  of  the  planting  machine. 
This  machine  should  be  adjusted  so  that  the  seed  will  be 
about  one  inch  below  the  surface  when  the  latter  is  pressed 
down,  or  one  and  one-half  inches  if  a  ridge  of  loose  soil  is 
left  by  the  coverer.  At  this  time,  in  order  to  give  the 
young  plants  a  good  start,  the  twenty-five  to  thirty  pounds 
of  nitrate  of  soda  per  acre  may  be  applied,  either  in  the 
furrows  with  the  seed  (if  the  machine  will  do  it)  or  on 
top  of  the  covered  seed  by  hand. 

Time  for  Planting.  Cotton  planters  may  have  many 
local  rules  to  determine  the  proper  time  for  planting. 
The  blooming  of  the  dogwood  is  one  of  these  rules,  and 
another  is,  "ninety  days  from  when  the  'katydid'  is  first 
heard."  Neither  of  these  is  at  all  reliable  as  a  guide  to 


COTTON    CULTURE  47 

planting.  The  best  rule  is  to  plant  at  or  about  the  date 
which  long  experience  has  proved  the  most  satisfactory, 
provided  only,  that  the  soil  shall  be  in  workable  condition,  or 
not  "too  wet  to  plow."  This  date  will,  of  course,  depend 
upon  the  latitude  and  altitude,  varying  from  March  ist 
in  southern  Texas  and  Florida  to  May  2oth  in  upper  North 
Carolina,  southwest  Virginia,  southern  Missouri  and 
Kentucky. 

CULTIVATION 

The  first  step  after  planting  may  be  to  run  over  the 
field  with  either  an  ordinary  smoothing  harrow  with  the 
teeth  slanting  backward,  or  the  more  modern  weeder — 
a  very  effective  implement — running  directly  across  the 
rows  or  diagonally.  If  the  seeds  come  up  promptly  before 
a  rainfall,  the  work  may  well  be  deferred  until  afterward. 
But  if  a  heavy  rainfall  shall  occur  before  the  seeds  germi- 
nate the  work  of  the  harrow  or  weeder  will  be  very  effect- 
ive in  preventing  or  destroying  the  crust  that  usually  forms 
after  such  a  rain  and  which  might  prevent  the  tender 
plant  from  coming  to  the  surface.  At  the  same  time, 
sprouting  seeds  of  grass  and  weeds  will  be  destroyed  even 
before  they  appear.  This  surface  harrowing  may  be  re^ 
peated  two  or  more  times,  before  the  use  of  any  other 
cultivating  implements  will  be  necessary. 

"  Chopping  Out "  should  commence  when  the  seed 
leaves  are  fully  expanded  and  the  third  and  fourth  leaves 
have  commenced  to  enlarge.  It  should  be  done  rapidly, 


48  COTTON    CULTURE 

striking  but  one  blow  in  the  same  place  and  reducing  the 
plants  to  bunches,  ten  to  fifteen  inches  apart,  of  two  to  four 
plants.  The  "hands"  should  be  able  to  cover  two  to 
three  acres  where  rows  are  three  and  one-half  feet  apart. 
The  cultivator  should  follow  rather  closely  after  this 
chopping,  and  the  final  work  of  "putting  to  a  stand" 
should  be  commenced  within  a  few  days  after  the  chopping 
has  been  finished.  At  this  juncture  the  presence  of  "the 
boss"  or  some  reliable  representative  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary in  order  to  see  that  the  work  is  properly  done  and  the 
stand  preserved.  If  this  be  properly  performed,  and  the 
plowmen  do  their  duty  afterward,  very  little  further 
work  with  hand  hoes  will  be  necessary.  The  further 
work  of  cultivation  should  be  done  with  shallow  running 
sweeps,  scrapes,  or,  better  still,  regular  cultivators  running 
once  or  twice  to  the  row,  every  week  or  ten  days,  the  main 
purpose  being  to  keep  the  surface  to  the  depth  of  one  or 
two  inches,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  in  a  loose  and  open  con- 
dition. 

The  effect  of  this  layer  of  loose  pulverized  soil  is 
to  prevent  undue  evaporation  and  loss  of  moisture  from 
the  soil,  as  well  as  to  destroy  grass.  As  a  rule,  all  horse- 
implement  cultivation  should  cease  when  the  cotton  plants 
have  expanded  laterally  until  the  limbs  nearly  meet  in 
the  middle,  which  is  by  July  ist  to  August  ist,  depending 
upon  the  location  of  the  plantation.  Continuing  the  cul- 
tivation too  long  tends  to  produce  "weed"  at  the  expense 
of  lint. 

During  the  first  period  of  the  development  of  the  cot- 


COTTON    CULTURE  49 

ton  plant,  from  middle  spring  to  middle  summer,  it  makes 
the  growth  of  stalk  and  leaf,  and  gathers  nourishment  for 
the  future  elaboration  of  seed  and  lint.  This  is  the  fruit- 
ing season.  The  energies  of  the  plant  are  now  directed 
toward  making  use  of  the  materials  it  has  already  accu- 
mulated, and  the  growth  of  foliage  diminishes.  The 
planters  assist  the  plant  by  reducing  its  supply  of 
water,  through  promoting  surface  evaporation;  the  soil 
remains  undisturbed,  and  gradually  dries.  It  is  pre- 
cisely reversing  the  process  desired  in  the  earlier  stage 
of  growth. 

The  practice  of  sowing  crimson  clover  between  rows 
(about  fifteen  pounds  per  acre),  immediately  after  the 
last  working,  is  growing  in  favor.  The  effect  of  this  is  to 
cover  the  ground  with  a  mat  of  vegetation  which  checks 
winter  washing.  It  also  makes  a  valuable  green  manure 
for  turning  under.  Crimson  clover  is  an  annual,  and  for 
forage  purposes  requires  re-seeding  each  year. 

HARVESTING    AND    MARKETING 

Picking.  The  ripening  of  cotton  naturally  depends  on 
the  climate  or  location.  The  first  bolls  open  about  May 
1 5th  in  southern  Texas;  June  25th  in  middle  Texas; 
July  ist  in  southern  Louisiana;  July  loth  in  middle  Louisi- 
ana; July  1 5th  in  southern  Georgia  and  pine-hill  section 
of  South  Carolina;  August  ist  in  northwestern  Louisiana, 
southern  Arkansas,  and  coast  of  North  Carolina;  Sep- 
tember ist  in  the  Piedmont  region,  North  Carolina,  and  the 


50  COTTON    CULTURE 

red  loam  prairies  of  Texas;   and  September  i5th  in  north- 
ern Arkansas. 

Picking  commences  about  July  loth  in  southern  Texas; 
August  ist  in  southern  Louisiana  and  central  Texas; 
August  1 5th  in  the  pine  hills  of  South  Carolina  and  coast 
of  Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  and  Mississippi  uplands; 
August  25th  in  northwestern  Louisiana  and  Mississippi 
bottoms;  September  ist  in  northern  Texas,  coast  of  North 
Carolina,  and  northwest  Georgia;  and  October  ist  in  north- 
western Texas  and  northern  Arkansas. 

The  cotton  field  is  usually  picked  over  three  times;  in 
the  Gulf  States  the  first  picking  takes  place  in  August 
and  September,  the  second  in  October,  and  the  third  in 
November  and  December.  In  Georgia,  North  and  South 
Carolina,  Texas,  and  Arkansas,  the  first  picking  usually 
takes  place  in  September,  the  second  in  October,  and  the 
third  in  November.  As  cotton  gins  badly  when  wet, 
picking  is  not  commenced  in  the  morning  until  after  the 
dew  is  off  the  bolls,  nor  should  it  commence  soon  after 
a  rain. 

Picking  has  thus  far  been  entirely  a  hand  process.  No 
satisfactory  picking  machine  has  yet  been  widely  adopted. 
The  price  paid  for  picking  ranges  from  thirty  to  fifty  cents 
per  hundred  pounds.  A  fairly  expert  picker  should  har- 
vest three  hundred  pounds  per  day,  but  in  practice  the 
average  is  little  over  one  hundred  pounds.  The  planter 
should  prepare  beforehand  for  harvesting  his  crop,  as  the 
cotton  must  be  picked  as  soon  as  properly  opened,  to 
prevent  losses  from  soiling,  falling  out,  etc.  Cotton  left 


COTTON    CULTURE  51 

in  the  field  for  a  fuller  opening  than  an  average  of  two 
hundred  pounds  per  acre  is  liable  to  serious  damage,  and, 
in  case  of  storms,  to  almost  total  loss. 

Ginning.  The  removal  of  the  seed  from  the  lint,  gin- 
ning, is  now  generally  done  by  public  steam  gins.  The 
charge  is  very  low,  and  it  is  cheaper  than  home-ginning. 
Some  of  the  large  plantations  have  their  own  gins.  Pack- 
ing or  baling  follows  the  ginning,  and  the  modern  cylin- 
drical bale  closed  in  cotton  duck,  sewed  instead  of  iron-tied, 
is  an  improvement  on  the  old  style  badly-made  burlap 
bale.  In  the  matter  of  ginning  and  baling,  the  planter 
is  generally  at  the  mercy  of  his  local  steam  gin.  If  it  is 
a  modern  plant,  he  is  very  fortunate;  if  not,  the  only 
remedy  is  to  endeavor  to  have  a  modern  plant  established. 

Marketing.  The  cotton  crop  is  seldom  marketed  by 
the  planter  direct.  The  custom  is  to  haul  it  to  the  nearest 
market  town,  where  the  bales  are  consigned  to  a  factor, 
or  commission  man,  who  furnishes  storage  and  insurance, 
samples  each  bale  and  sells  its  contents,  making  a  fixed 
charge  for  his  services.  By  this  system,  the  cotton  passes 
through  several  hands,  each  of  which  makes  a  handsome 
profit.  It  is  wrong  in  principle,  and  the  remedy  lies  in 
a  thorough  organization  of  planters.  Under  present  con- 
ditions, it  is  generally  more  profitable  to  sell  direct  from 
the  gin,  and  save  cost  of  storage,  insurance,  and  loss  from 
shrinkage. 


52  COTTON    CULTURE 


DISEASES   OF    COTTON 

In  the  treatment  of  cotton  diseases  an  ounce  of  pre- 
vention is  worth  many  pounds  of  cure. 

YELLOW-LEAF   BLIGHT 

This  is  also  known  as  the  "Mosaic  disease."  The  later 
stages  of  this  disease  are  commonly  known  as  "black 
rust."  The  leaves  take  a  yellowish  color,  followed  gen- 
erally by  an  attack  of  fungus,  which  forms  brownish  spots, 
finally  becoming  black.  If  dry  weather  continues  for  a 
long  period,  the  leaves  curl  and  fall. 

Remedy.  The  disease  is  probably  due  to  lack  of  proper 
nutrition.  The  preventive  is  liberal  fertilizing.  Experi- 
ments conducted  by  Prof.  George  F.  Atkinson,  showed  a 
considerable  reduction  of  the  disease  from  the  use  of  kainit 
applied  as  a  fertilizer.  Professor  Atkinson  also  conducted 
experiments  at  Auburn,  Alabama,  which  confirmed  the 
view  that  liberal  fertilizing  with  mixtures  containing  kainit 
is  an  effective  preventive.  The  action  of  the  kainit  in 
conserving  soil  moisture  is  believed  to  have  no  little  weight 
in  protecting  the  plant  from  the  blight. 

RED-LEAF   BLIGHT 

On  this  subject  the  following  is  quoted  from  "The 
Cotton  Plant":  "The  foliage  of  cotton  frequently  pre- 
sents a  red  coloration,  which  is  of  the  same  nature  as  that 
displayed  in  'autumn  leaves.'  It  is  especially  common  on 


KAIN1T  AS  A  PREVENTIVE  OF  COTTON   RUST 


No  Fertilizer.      Badly  Rusted. 

TEST  BY  L.  S.  WHITE,  SUMMIT,  Miss. 


Fertilized  with  165  Ibs.  Kainit  per  acre.     Free  from  rust. 

TEST  BY  L.  S.  WHITE,  SUMMIT,  Miss. 


53 


54  COTTON    CULTURE 

what  are  known  as  '  uplands,'  where  the  soil  is  worn  and  poor. 
When  it  occurs  early  in  the  season,  the  cotton  sometimes 
makes  but  little  progress  before  the  leaves  turn  red,  growth 
ceases,  and  early  maturity  sets  in,  and  the  leaves  drop, 
while  the  plant  bears  from  one  to  two  or  several  bolls." 

Remedy.  The  same  authority  says:  "It  results  from 
an  impoverished  condition  of  the  soil,  showing  a  lack  es- 
pecially of  potash  and  nitrogen,  and  probably  also  of 
phosphoric  acid.  This  can  be  remedied  by  proper  ferti- 
lizing and  cultivation." 

SHEDDING   OF    BOLLS 

This  is  the  most  serious  of  cotton  diseases.  It  occurs 
most  frequently  in  extreme  wet  or  dry  weather,  or  during 
a  change  from  one  extreme  to  another.  It  may  develop 
under  normal  conditions,  especially  if  the  cotton  plants 
are  very  thick,  or  the  variety  is  one  which  develops  a  very 
large  amount  of  fruit  in  proportion  to  the  leaf  surface. 

Remedy.  The  authorities  give  no  definite  remedy. 
The  disease  seems  to  be  influenced  by  the  power  of  the 
plant  to  assimilate  nourishment.  It  is  quite  probable  that 
this  disease,  like  the  yellow  and  red  leaf  blight,  is  a  result 
of  imperfect  fertilization.  Thorough  tillage  should  have 
much  influence  in  checking  the  disease,  from  its  value  in 
preventing  irregularities  in  soil  water. 

FRENCHING 

The  first  sign  of  the  disease  is  usually  a  light  yellowing 
of  the  lower  leaves  at  the  edge,  or  more  commonly  between 


COTTON    CULTURE  55 

the  forks  of  the  main  ribs  of  the  leaf.  The  yellowing  is 
sometimes  nearly  white,  and  is  the  result  of  a  failing  nu- 
trition of  the  leaf.  At  an  early  stage  of  the  disease  the 
leaves  begin  to  brown  at  the  point  at  which  the  yellowing 
first  appeared;  then  they  die  and  fall.  In  sandy  land  the 
disease  makes  rapid  progress;  very  few  of  the  leaves  may 
show  the  color,  but  on  a  hot  or  dry  day,  they  suddenly  wilt. 
Remedy.  The  authorities  give  no  specific  remedy.  It 
is  a  fungus  disease,  and  may  be  checked  by  liberal  ferti- 
lization accompanied  by  clean  and  thorough  cultivation. 
If  very  severe,  a  rotation  must  be  practiced  to  free  the  soil 
of  infection. 

SORE    SHIN 

This  is  also  known  as  "Damping  off,"  and  "Seeding 
rot."  It  is  a  fungus  disease,  favored  by  excessive  rainy 
weather  during  the  early  stages  of  growth.  It  appears 
in  large  plants  which  have  been  injured  by  bruising  through 
careless  use  of  cultivators,  etc.  The  best  checks  are  drain- 
age and  cultivation.  Care  in  working  the  soil  will  pro- 
tect the  larger  plants. 

ANTHRACNOSE 

This  disease  attacks  principally  the  bolls,  but  also  in- 
fects stems  and  leaves.  The  accompanying  cut  indicates 
the  nature  of  the  diseased  bolls.  The  disease  origi- 
nates in  minute  spots  of  a  dull  reddish  color  wMch 
soon  give  place  to  a  blackening  of  the  tissue  as  the 
spot  enlarges. 


COTTON    CULTURE 


Remedy.  The  remedy  so  far  as  is  known  is  confined 
to  preventing  the  spread  of  the  disease.  Treating  seed, 
which  may  be  infected,  with  hot  water  or  corrosive  subli- 
mate solution  may  prove  useful.  Never  use  seed  from  cot- 


Photo  by  Wilmon  Newell.* 

COTTON  BOLLS  AFFECTED  WITH  ANTHRACNOSE. 

ton  in  an  infected  field.  Improving  the  vitality  of  the 
plant  by  rational  fertilization  and  cultivation  is  the 
best  preventive. 

ROOT   ROT   OF   COTTON 

The  first  indication  is  the  sudden  wilting  of  one  or  more 
plants,  usually  first  noticed  late  in  June  or  early  in  July.  The 
fungus  derives  its  nourishment  from  the  living  substance  of 

*  Courtesy  Georgia  State  Board  of  Entomology. 


COTTON    CULTURE 


57 


the  root,  and  the  result  is  the  death  of  the  plant  from 
starvation  and  lack  of  proper  water  supply.  Examination 
of  the  plant  shows  a  mat  of  fungus  adhering  to  the  roots. 
Wet  weather  is  favorable  to  its  development. 

Remedy.  There  is  no  remedy,  but  the  same  preventive 
measures  may  be  em- 
ployed as  are  used  with 
the  other  fungus  dis- 
eases, namely,  liberal 
fertilization,  with  thor- 
ough drainage  and  till- 
age. Infected  plants 
should  be  pulled  up  and 
burned.  Green  manur- 
ing, or  the  use  of  farm- 
yard manures,  should  be 
suspended.  Rotation  of 
crops  is  advisable,  with 
corn,  sorghum,  millet, 
wheat,  oats,  and  other 
members  of  the  grass 
family.  On  infected  soil 

cotton  should  not  be  planted  oftener  than  every  third 
or  fourth  year,  until  the  disease  is  eradicated. 

COTTON-LEAF   BLIGHT 

This  is  a  very  common  disease  of  the  cotton  plant.     The 
accompanying  illustration  shows  the  nature  of  the  disease. 


BLACK  ROOT  DISEASE  OR  COTTON 
WILT.* 


*  Courtesy  Georgia  State  Board  of  Entomology. 


58  COTTON    CULTURE 

It  usually  attacks  only  the  older  leaves,  or  those  which  have 
been  weakened  from  other  causes.  The  disease  shows  in 
rounded,  irregular  spots  on  the  leaf,  which  have  a  dull 
reddish  border  surrounding  a  whitish  or  brownish  inte- 
rior. As  the  spots  become  old,  the  central  portion  fre- 
quently breaks  out,  leaving  the  leaves  with  a  perforated 
and  ragged  appearance. 

Remedy.  The  trouble  is  starvation  and  bad  soil  con- 
ditions; the  remedy  is  obvious.  Kainit  is  claimed  to  be 
an  almost  perfect  specific  for  the  disease. 

COTTON-BOLL   ROT 

This  disease  affects  the  boll,  seed,  and  lint.  It  appears 
to  originate  within  the  boll  and  is  not  perceptible  until  the 
contents  of  the  boll  have  become  decayed.  The  disease 
is  chiefly  confined  to  the  middle  and  top  crop. 

Remedy.  The  remedy,  as  with  all  diseases  of  this  kind, 
is  liberal  manuring  and  a  rotation  of  crops.  The  disease 
resembles  Frenching  in  many  characteristics. 

ROOT   GALLS 

This  is  a  disease  caused  by  a  nematode  whichTliving  in 
the  tissues,  causes  abnormal  growth,  termed  "galls."  The 
injuries  caused  by  the  distortion  of  the  roots  so  drain  the 
vitality  of  the  plant  that  putrefaction  takes  place.  The 
plant  becomes  vitiated,  and  falls  an  easy  prey  to  many 
diseases. 

Remedy.  Rotation  of  crops  is  effective.  Kainit  ap- 
plied in  liberal  quantities  is  an  aid  in  checking  the  disease. 


COTTON    CULTURE 


59 


INJURIOUS    INSECTS 

It  is  stated  on  good  authority  that  the  average  loss  to 
cotton  growers  from  the  ravages  of  a  single  species  of 
insect  is  estimated  to  amount  to  $15,000,000  annually. 


A,  showing  damage  by  cotton- boll  worm.     B,  cotton-boll  worm. 

COTTON-BOLL  WORM. 

The  fight  against  these  insects  must  be  carried  on  in  a 
vigorous  manner.  The  remedies  should  be  studied  care- 
fully, and  the  application  carried  out  to  the  smallest  detail. 

THE   COTTON   WORM 

This  is  also  known  as  the  cotton  caterpillar.     The  insect 
is  too  familiar  to  cotton  growers  to  require  description. 


6o 


COTTON    CULTURE 


It   attracts   attention   chiefly  from  the  ragged   condition 
of  the  leaves. 

Remedies.  The  most  effective  method  of  treating 
plants  is  to  dust  those  infected  with  dry  Paris  green. 
Spraying  with  liquid  insecticides  is  also  effectual. 

COTTON-BOLL   WORM 

The  cotton-boll  worm,  the  corne-ar  worm,  and  the  to- 
mato-fruit worm  are  all  of  the  same  family.  The  following 


A,  adult  stage.  B,  pupa  stage.         C,  larvae  stage. 

THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  (ENLARGED). 

illustration  shows  the  larvae  stage  of  the  boll  worm.  Full- 
grown  worms  may  be  found  in  almost  every  intermediate 
stage  of  color,  from  light  green  and  dark  brown  to  rose. 
They  may  be  striped  and  spotted,  or  they  may  possess 
dark  stripes  or  black  spots. 

Remedy.      Plant  a  few  rows  of  cow-peas  as  a  trap  crop, 


COTTON    CULTURE 


6l 


bordering  the  cotton.  They  are  to  be  planted  late,  so 
that  blooming  will  not  occur  until  the  destructive  brood 
appears,  usually  in  August.  A  portion  of  the  row  should 
be  sprayed  over  every  night  with  a  mixture  of  four  ounces 
of  beer  and  two  ounces  of  potassium  cyanide.  Trap  crops 
have  been  found  the  most  effective  means  of  fighting  the 
worm.  Plant  five  rows  of  early  maturing  sweet  corn  to 
every  twenty-five  rows  of  cotton.  The  silk  ends  of  this 
corn  should  be  cut  off  and  destroyed  by  burning,  and  the 
corn  plants  removed.  Three  rows  of  dent  corn  are  planted 
so  that  the  silking  period  will 
occur  about  July  ist,  or  a  little 
later.  These  rows  are  to  be  al- 
lowed to  mature,  as  they  will  at- 
tract the  moth  from  the  cotton, 
and  the  worms  will  be  destroyed 
by  parasites. 

MEXICAN    COTTON-BOLL 
WEEVIL 


THE   BOLL  WEEVIL 
AT  WORK. 


This  is  a  small  grayish  weevil 
measuring  a  little  less  than  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  in  length.  It  is  found  in  the  cotton 
fields  throughout  the  season,  puncturing  and  laying  its 
eggs  in  the  squares  and  bolls.  The  squares  attacked 
usually  drop,  but  the  bolls  either  'dry  or  rot. 

The  boll  weevil  is  the  most  destructive  insect  enemy  known 
to  the  cotton  plant.  Its  ravages  at  present  are  confined 
to  the  Western  part  of  the  cotton-growing  area,  but  it  is 


62  COTTON    CULTURE 

presumed  that,  within  a  few  years,  the  insect  will  spread 
over  the  whole  cotton-growing  territory. 

Remedies.  The  best  remedies  are  the  destruction  of 
the  insects  where  possible  and  bringing  the  cotton  to  an 
early  maturity,  so  that  a  large  part  of  the  crop  may  be 
harvested  before  the  weevils  have  greatly  multiplied. 

The  cotton  stalks  should  be  burned  and  in  the  fall  all 
rubbish  and  fallen  squares  should  be  picked  and  destroyed 
as  fast  as  practicable. 

For  planting,  early  varieties  should  be  chosen,  and  it 
is  very  important  to  hasten  the  process  of  maturing  the 
cotton  by  the  liberal  use  of  fertilizers. 

MINOR   INJURIOUS    INSECTS 

Cut  Worms.  Cotton  is  sometimes  injured  by  cut  worms, 
particularly  if  a  clover  sod  has  been  turned  under  for  the 
crop.  The  worms  may  be  destroyed  by  making  bundles 
of  green  grass,  turnip  or  cabbage  leaves,  thoroughly  dust- 
ing them  with  Paris  green,  and  distributing  the  bundles 
over  the  cotton  field  in  the  evening.  Grass  may  be  thor- 
oughly sprayed  with  any  powerful  insecticide,  cut  and 
spread  over  the  cotton  field  in  small  heaps. 

Leaf -Feeding  Caterpillars.  Spray  with  Paris  green, 
or  dust  it  on  dry.  This  remedy  applies  to  all  caterpillars 
of  the  leaf-feeding  hatiit.  Grasshoppers  of  the  same  habit 
are  trapped  by  attracting  them  to  small  patches  of  sweet- 
ened bran,  poisoned  with  arsenic. 


COTTON    CULTURE  63 

COTTON    PLANTERS   MUST  USE 
CHEMICAL   FERTILIZERS 

There  is  no  doubt  that  cotton  planters  must  use  chemi- 
cal fertilizers  if  they  want  to  raise  good,  paying  crops. 
The  plain  question  may  be  and  is  often  asked:  Does  it 
pay  to  use  chemical  fertilizers?  Our  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion is  summed  up  in  one  word:  "Yes!"  The  time  has 
now  come  when  the  great  majority  of  planters  in  the  cotton 
belt  must  use  chemical  fertilizers  if  they  hope  to  succeed 
and  make  any  profit.  In  fact  the  most  successful  cotton 
planters  to-day  are  those  who  buy  and  use  the  most 
fertilizers. 

The  best  answer  as  to  the  value  of  chemical  fertilizers 
for  cotton  may  be  found  in  a  bulletin  issued  by  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture  (Misc.  Series,  No.  13, 
Division  of  Statistics).  This  bulletin  contains  the  results 
of  tests  in  ordinary  field  practice  by  1,495  planters.  The 
results  are  summarized  as  follows: 

"It  appears  that  there  were  twenty-one  planters  who 
spent  less  than  $i  each  per  acre  for  fertilizers,  and  that 
their  average  profit  was  $4.62  per  acre.  The  planters 
who  spent  from  $i  to  $1.99  per  acre  had  an  average  profit 
of  $5.09  per  acre;  those  who  spent  from  $2  to  $2.99  per  acre 
had  an  average  profit  of  $5.34;  those  who  spent  from  $3 
to  $3.99  per  acre  had  an  average  profit  of  $5.91;  those 
who  spent  from  $4  to  $4.99  per  acre  had  an  average  profit 
of  $7.96;  those  who  spent  from  $5  to  $5.99  per  acre  had  a 
profit  of  $8.76;  while  the  planters  whose  fertilizers  cost 


64  COTTON    CULTURE 

them  $6  per  acre  and  over  had  an  average  net  profit  of 
$12.51  per  acre. 

"It  will  thus  be  noticed  that  the  increase  of  expense 
for  fertilizer  in  cotton  raising  apparently  leads  to  increased 
profits;  and  further,  that  so  far  as  these  results  disclose, 
the  point  of  diminishing  returns  was  not  reached  in  the 
total  for  the  five  States  (South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida, 
North  Carolina,  and  Alabama)  that  are  included,  and 
where  it  was  reached,  apparently,  in  any  State,  the  result 
is  probably  a  chance  one  due  to  the  small  number  of  returns. 

"The  planters  who  lost  did  so  because  of  more  or  less 
crop  failure  due  principally  to  drought,  in  which  case,  as 
is  well  known,  the  full  value  and  effect  of  manures  or 
fertilizers  can  not  be  shown;  there  is,  however,  little 
actual  loss,  as  the  plant  food  is  largely  retained  in  the  soil 
for  the  next  season's  crop.  Had  these  crops  been  raised 
under  normal  conditions,  losses  would  have  been  gains, 
although  not  necessarily  equivalent  ones." 

Additional  official  evidence  is  furnished  from  testimony 
obtained  by  a  Congressional  Committee  (Agriculture  and 
Forestry)  appointed  to  examine  into  the  conditions  of 
cotton  planting.  A  report  was  made  to  this  Committee 
from  Beaufort  County,  N.  C.,  stating  that  about  ten  per 
cent  of  the  land  in  that  district  would  produce  five  hundred 
pounds  of  lint  cotton  per  acre  if  fertilized.  From  Barn- 
well  County,  S.  C.,  an  answer  to  the  Committee's  circular 
letter  states:  "There  is  from  thirty  per  cent  to  fifty  per 
cent  profit  in  the  use  of  fertilizers,  depending  on  the  grade 
and  the  land.  Without  fertilizers  we  would  have  to  quit 
planting  cotton." 


COTTON    CULTURE  6$ 

COST  OF   MAKING   COTTON 

The  cost  of  producing  a  pound  of  cotton  depends  on  so 
many  contingencies  that  all  calculations  are  more  or  less 
misleading  and  of  little  service  to  the  practical  farmer  or 
to  the  student  of  agriculture. 

The  actual  fixed  expenses  vary  considerably  in  different 
farms  and  under  different  managements.  They  may  vary 
from  $12  to  $20  per  acre.  At  any  given  figure  for  fixed 
expenses  the  cost  per  pound  of  cotton  will  vary  inversely 
as  the  yield  per  acre.  Practically,  it  costs  as  much  to  cul- 
tivate a  poor  acre  as  it  does  to  cultivate  a  rich  acre,  the 
difference  being  in  rental  value.  It  costs  some  farmers 
fifteen  cents  per  pound  of  lint;  others,  twelve,  eight,  and 
so  on  down  to  five  cents.  At  the  lower  figure  (five  cents) , 
naturally  rich,  highly  improved,  and  liberally  fertilized  land 
would  be  required,  also,  the  best  seed  and  the  most  skillful 
cultivation. 

Possibly  the  average  cost  of  producing  lint  (at  present, 
1909),  is  around  eight  cents  per  pound. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  the  use  of  a  well-balanced  fer- 
tilizer is  an  indispensable  aid  in  producing  cotton  on  ordi- 
nary soils  at  .a  low  cost.  Eight  hundred  pounds,  or  about 
$10  worth,  of  a  properly  balanced  high-grade  fertilizer 
may,  under  favorable  conditions,  cause  an  increase  of 
eight  hundred  pounds  of  seed  cotton  or  two  hundred  and 
sixty  pounds  of  lint,  worth  (at  ten  cents)  $26.60,  and  five 
hundred  and  thirty-four  pounds  of  seed,  worth  (at  eighty 
cents  per  cwt.)  $4.27,  making  a  total  of  $30.87.  Even  in 


66  COTTON    CULTURE 

an  average  year  the  increased  yield  may  be  as  much  as 
$20  for  each  $10  worth  of  fertilizer,  or  one  hundred  per 
cent  profit.  At  the  present  (1910)  high  prices  of  cotton 
the  average  profits  are  much  larger. 


GENERAL    REMARKS    ON    FER- 
TILIZERS 

As  several  crops  of  different  kinds  may  be  grown  in 
rotation  with  cotton,  it  may  be  useful  to  give  a  general 
review  of  the  best  fertilizer  practice.  All  the  crops  mak- 
ing part  of  a  rotation  must  be  fertilized,  except  when  a 
cow-pea,  clover,  or  other  leguminous  crop  is  raised.  While 
nitrogen  may  be  secured  indirectly  as  a  part  of  a  rotation 
system  through  a  special  property  of  leguminous  crops, 
potash  and  phosphoric  acid  must  always  be  applied  direct. 
It  is  well  known  that  different  crops  need  different  quan- 
tities of  potash,  phosphoric  acid,  and  nitrogen  compounds. 
If  we  cannot  depend  upon  the  soil  to  furnish  any  consid- 
erable quantity  of  plant  food,  then  the  farmer  must  use, 
at  least,  the  amounts  of  fertilizing  materials'  removed  by 
each  crop.  In  the  following  table  we  give  the  number 
of  pounds  of  potash,  phosphoric  acid,  and  nitrogen  used  by 
different  kinds  of  crops  grown  on  one  acre  of  land. 


COTTON    CULTURE 


67 


TA.BLE  GIVING  THE  AMOUNTS  OF  FERTILIZING  INGREDI- 
ENTS (POTASH,  PHOSPHORIC  ACID,  AND  NITROGEN)  CON- 
TAINED IN  THE  CROP  FOR  ONE  ACRE. 


Crop. 

Yield. 

Straw,  Etc. 

Potash. 

Phosphoric 
Acid. 

Nitrogen. 

Beans 

•?o  bu 

2  700  Ibs. 

7Q  Ibs 

•20  Ibs 

7?  Ibs 

Cabbage    .... 

30  tons 

2  7O      " 

70        " 

108     " 

Clover  *   green 

15  tons 

140     " 

1  2O      " 

Clover,  dry     .  . 

2        " 

88     " 

18     ' 

81     " 

Corn  

70  bu. 

6  ooo  Ibs. 

e  r      " 

48      " 

82     " 

Mixed  hay 

s  OOO      " 

77      " 

18      " 

7O       '  ' 

Oats.  

60  bu. 

-2    2OO      " 

62      " 

2  2 

c  r       " 

Onions  

45,000  Ibs. 

72       " 

-2J           " 

71      " 

Peas  
Potatoes  
Timothy 

30  bu. 

200       " 

3,000  Ibs. 
1,500     ' 

4.  OOO       " 

52 
74 

QA          " 

33 

21 

2-2         " 

107 
46      " 

88     " 

Tobacco    .... 

i  600  Ibs. 

I   400      " 

Tomatoes    .... 

10  tons 

stems 

200      " 
CA      " 

16     " 
20 

75     " 

32         " 

Turnips  

700  bu. 

5  tons 

i  so  ' 

52      " 

79 

*  Crimson  clover. 


APPENDIX 

DESCRIPTION   OF   FERTILIZER   MATERIALS 

Broadly  speaking,  there  are  two  kinds  of  fertilizers: 
those  which  are  in  themselves  a  direct  source  of  plant  food, 
and  those  which  by  their  action  tend  to  make  plant-food 
fertilizers  more  available.  While  crops  may  be  grown 
without  the  use  of  fertilizers  of  the  second  class,  no  crop 
can  live  without  the  fertilizers  of  the  first  class,  even  though 
ample  applications  be  made  of  the  former. 


68  COTTON    CULTURE 

Fertilizers  of  the  second  class  comprise  lime,  gypsum 
(plaster),  and  common  salt,  and  are  sometimes  called 
"stimulant  fertilizers.''  They  tend  to  make  rapidly  avail- 
able the  stores  of  potash,  phosphoric  acid,  and  nitrogen 
naturally  present  in  the  soil.  When  stimulant  fertilizers 
are  used  exclusively  for  a  term  of  years,  the  soil  each  year 
loses  potash,  phosphoric  acid,  and  nitrogen,  which  are  not 
replaced.  The  inevitable  result  of  such  treatment  must 


No  Fertilizer.     Yield,  540  Ibs.  Seed  Cotton  per  acre. 

RESULTS  OF  FERTILIZER  TEST  BY  C.  L.  FREELING,  BEEBE»  ARK. 

naturally  be  the  exhaustion  of  these  important  food  con- 
stituents from  the  soil. 

True  fertilizers  contain  forms  of  plant  food,  which  con- 
tribute directly  to  the  growth  and  substance  of  plants. 
Such  materials  may  contain  potash,  or  phosphoric  acid 
compounds  or  nitrogenous  substances;  or  any  two,  or  all 


69 


Fertilized  with  Potash,  Phosphate,  and  Nitrogen. 

RESULTS  OF  FERTILIZER  TEST  BY  C.  L.  FREELING,  BEEBE,  ARK. 


Fertilized  with  Phosphate  and  Nitrogen.      (No  Potash.) 
Yield,  885  Ibs.  Seed  Cotton  per  acre. 

RESULTS  OF  FERTILIZER  TEST  BY  C.  L.  FREELING,  BEEBE,  ARK. 


70  COTTON    CULTURE 

three  of  these  forms  of  plant  food.  The  tables  given  at 
the  end  of  this  chapter  show  the  composition  of  the  most 
commonly  used  fertilizers. 

MATERIALS    SUPPLYING    POTASH 

Kainit  is  the  most  common  product  of  the  German 
potash  mines.  It  is  a  mixture  of  several  different  com- 
pounds, containing  twelve  to  thirteen  per  cent  of  actual 
potash,  together  with  about  thirty-five  per  cent  of  common 
salt,  also  magnesia  salts. 

Muriate  of  Potash,  also  a  product  of  the  Stassfurt 
mines,  is  the  main  source  of  supply  for  potash  for  commer- 
cial fertilizers  in  our  market,  and  contains  from  fifty  to 
fifty-three  per  cent  of  actual  potash. 

Sulfate  of  Potash  is  a  product  of  the  German  mines 
and  as  found  in  the  market  contains  from  forty-eight  to 
fifty-one  per  cent  of  actual  potash. 

Sulfate  of  Potash  Magnesia  is  known  also  as  double 
manure  salt,  or  low-grade  sulfate  of  potash.  This  ma- 
terial contains  twenty-six  to  twenty-eight  per  cent  of 
actual  potash  and  thirty-two  to  thirty-six  per  cent  of 
sulfate  of  magnesia. 

Wood  Ashes  contain  a  small  amount  of  potash,  which  is 
present  chiefly  in  the  form  of  carbonate. 

MATERIALS    SUPPLYING    PHOSPHORIC    ACID 

Bones  consist  chiefly  of  phosphate  of  lime,  which  con- 
stitutes from  one-half  to  three-fifths  of  the  weight  of  the 
bone.  The  remaining  portion  is  a  soft,  flesh-like  sub- 


COTTON    CULTURE  7 I 

stance  commonly  called  gelatine.  It  is  distributed  through- 
out the  entire  mass  of  bone,  and  is  rich  in  nitrogen.  When 
bones  are  burned,  the  nitrogenous  matter  is  driven  off 
and  only  the  mineral  portion  of  phosphate  of  lime  remains. 
Bones,  such  as  are  used  in  making  commercial  fertilizers, 
contain  four  to  five  per  cent  of  nitrogen  and  from  twenty 
to  twenty-five  per  cent  of  phosphoric  acid.  About  two- 
thirds  of  the  latter  is  insoluble  and  approximately  one- 
third  available. 

Bone  Products  are  valuable  fertilizers,  as  they  supply 
phosphoric  acid,  and  generally  nitrogen  also.  The  most 
common  forms  are  bone-black,  bone  meal,  and  bone  tankage. 
Bone-black  is  a  by-product  of  sugar  refining,  and  contains 
from  thirty  to  thirty-five  per  cent  insoluble  phosphoric 
acid.  Dissolved  bone-black  contains  sixteen  to  seventeen 
per  cent  available  phosphoric  acid.  Bone  meal  is  simply 
ground  bones,  steamed  or  raw.  It  contains  two  and  one- 
half  to  five  per  cent  of  nitrogen  and  twenty  to  twenty- five 
per  cent  of  phosphoric  acid.  Bone  tankage  is  a  very  irreg- 
ular product,  but  follows  bone  meal  closely  in  composition. 
It  is  a  by-product  of  the  smaller  packing  houses. 

Phosphate  Rock  is  a  mineral  phosphate,  found  in 
various  States.  In  a  raw  condition  it  contains  from 
twenty-five  to  thirty-five  per  cent  phosphoric  acid,  all  of 
which  is  insoluble  and  not  available  for  plant  food.  The 
mineral  has  to  be  treated  with  sulfuric  acid,  before  the 
phosphoric  acid  can  be  liberated. 

Acid  Phosphates  are  known  under  several  different 
names,  such  as  superphosphates,  dissolved  bone,  dissolved 


72  COTTON    CULTURE 

rock,  dissolved  bone-black,  etc.  Acid  phosphates  are 
formed  by  treating  some  form  of  insoluble  phosphate,  as 
rock  phosphate,  bone,  bone-ash,  etc.,  with  sulfuric  acid. 
By  this  treatment  there  are  formed  soluble  phosphates 
of  lime  and  gypsum  (sulfate  of  lime)  in  nearly  equal 
proportions. 

MATERIALS   SUPPLYING   NITROGEN 

Nitrate  of  Soda,  known  as  "Chili  saltpeter,"  is  found 
in  large  deposits  which  have  been  formed  in  the  rainless 
regions  of  Chili  and  Peru. 

Sulfate  of  Ammonia  is  formed  from  waste  materials 
produced  in  the  manufacture  of  gas  or  coke. 

Whole  Cotton  Seed  is  rather  slow  in  becoming  avail- 
able as  a  fertilizer.  By  rotting  to  "kill"  the  seed  it  is 
made  more  effective.  The  common  practice  is  to  pile  in 
large  heaps  and  leave  standing  for  several  months.  This 
not  only  kills  the  seed,  but  also  prevents  the  injurious 
action  sometimes  observed  from  using  raw  seed  as  manure. 
But  a  farmer  cannot  afford  to  use  sound  cotton  seed  as  a 
fertilizer.  The  seed  should  be  exchanged  for  cotton-seed 
meal. 

Cotton- Seed  Meal  is  the  product  formed  by  removing 
the  oil  from  cotton  seed  by  pressure,  after  which  the  ma- 
terial is  dried  and  ground.  The  hulls  of  the  cotton  seed 
also  possess  some  fertilizing  value. 

Tobacco  Stems  are  the  refuse  from  tobacco  factories. 

Dried  Blood  consists  of  blood  obtained  from  slaugh- 
tering animals.  It  is  prepared  for  market  by  coagulating, 


COTTON    CULTURE  73 

drying  and  grinding.  The  color  varies  from  red  to 
black. 

Dried  Fish  Scrap  consists  of  the  meat  and  bone  of 
fish  after  the  oil  has  been  pressed  out;  it  is  dried  artifi- 
cially and  ground  for  market. 

Meat  Scrap  or  Tankage,  etc.,  is  slaughter-house  refuse, 
dried  and  ground. 

Nitrogenous  Guanos  are  formed  in  dry  regions.  The 
Peruvian  guano  is  rich  in  nitrogen,  containing  seven  per 
cent  or  more,  and  usually  contains  seven  to  twelve  per  cent 
phosphoric  acid  and  about  one  per  cent  of  potash. 

There  are  several  inferior  sources  of  nitrogen,  such  as 
hair,  hoof-meal,  or  horn-dust,  leather  scrap  or  meal,  etc. 
While  all  these  materials  contain  much  nitrogen,  they  de- 
cay so  slowly  in  the  soil  that  they  have  a  very  uncertain 
fertilizer  value. 

TERMS  USED  IN  STATING  FERTILIZER  ANALYSES 

Fertilizer  dealers  and  the  Experiment  Station  Bulle- 
tins treat  the  different  forms  of  fertilizer  materials  sep- 
arately, and  it  is  important  that  the  farmer  should  be 
familiar  with  these  trade  names  and  understand  what 
they  mean. 

The  following  list  contains  most  of  the  terms  used  in 
stating  fertilizer  analyses: 

Potash  is  expressed  as:  (a)  Potash,  (6)  Potash  (actual), 
(c)  Potash  S.  (or  Sul.),  (d)  Potash  (soluble),  (e)  Potash 
as  Sulfate,  (/)  Potash  equal  (or  equivalent)  to  Sulfate 
of  Potash,  (g)  Sulfate  of  Potash,  (h)  Potassium  Oxide. 


74  COTTON    CULTURE 

Phosphoric  Acid  is  expressed  as:  (a)  Phosphoric  Acid, 
(6)  Soluble  Phosphoric  Acid,  (c)  Reverted  Phosphoric 
Acid,  (d)  Available  Phosphoric  Acid,  (e)  Soluble  and 
Available  Phosphoric  Acid,  (/)  Insoluble  Phosphoric  Acid, 
(g)  Total  Phosphoric  Acid,  (h)  Phosphoric  Acid  equal  (or 
equivalent)  to  Bone  Phosphate  of  Lime. 

Nitrogen  is  expressed  as:  (a)  Nitrogen,  (6)  Ammonia, 
(c)  Nitrogen  equal  (or  equivalent)  to  ammonia. 

POTASH 

(a)  Potash,  as  used   in  connection  with  fertilizers,   al- 
ways means  a  compound  containing  potassium  and  oxygen, 
known  chemically  as  potassium  oxide.     Potash  is  never 
found  as  such  in  fertilizers,  but  chemists,  when  expressing 
the  results  of  analyses,  use  this  form  as  a  convenient  stand- 
ard for  reference.     Fertilizers  generally  contain  potash  in 
such  forms  as    sulfate    of    potash,  muriate  of  potash,  or 
carbonate  of  potash.     Instead  of  stating  .the  amount  of 
sulfate,  muriate,  or  carbonate  of  potash   present  in  a  fer- 
tilizer, in    giving  the  results    of    analyses,  its    equivalent 
amount  is  stated  only  in  the  form  of  actual  potash. 

(b)  Potash   actual   is  simply  another  name  for  potash, 
as  distinct  from  sulfate,  muriate,  etc. 

(c)  Potash  S.   (or  Sul.),  means  sulfate  of  potash.     This 
is  quite  often  used  by  manufacturers  in  giving  guarantees. 

(d)  Potash    soluble   represents   the    amount    of    potash 
that  dissolves  in  water  and  is  available  for  the  use  of  plants. 
The   different  forms   of  potash   commonly  used  in  ferti- 
lizers are  readily  soluble  in  water. 


COTTON    CULTURE  75 

(e)    Potash  as  Sulfate  means  simply  sulfate  of  potash. 
(/)  Potash  Equal   (or  equivalent)    to  Sulfate   of  Potash 

is  an  expression  which  means  simply  sulfate  of  potash. 

(g)  Sulfate  of  Potash  signifies  that  this  compound 
is  actually  present  in  the  fertilizer,  and  that  there  is  no 
muriate  present. 

(h)  Potassium  Oxide  means  the  same  as  potash,  or 
actual  potash. 

PHOSPHORIC   ACID 

(a)  Phosphoric  Acid,  as  used  in  connection  with  fer- 
tilizers, is  a  compound  containing  phosphorus  and  oxygen, 
which  in  fertilizers  is  never  found  by  itself,  but  in  combi- 
nation with  lime.  Phosphoric  acid  stands  for  a  certain 
amount  ot  phosphate  of  lime.  We  may  say  roughly  that 
one  part  of  phosphoric  acid  is  equivalent  to  about  two 
parts  of  phosphate  of  lime. 

(6)  Soluble  Phosphoric  Acid  represents  the  amount  of  phos- 
phate of  lime  that  dissolves  easily  in  water.  It  is  formed 
by  treating  with  sulfuric  acid  some  form  of  insoluble 
lime  phosphate,  such  as  bones,  phosphate  rock,  etc.  The 
phosphate  thus  formed  is  readily  soluble  in  water. 

(c)  Reverted    Phosphoric    Acid    is    formed    from    solu- 
ble phosphoric  acid  under  certain  conditions  into  which 
we  need  not  inquire  here.     Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  solu- 
ble compound  of  phosphoric  acid  often  changes  to  some 
extent,  on  standing,  into  a  form  which,  while  less  soluble, 
is  still  quite  readily  available  as  plant  food. 

(d)  Available   Phosphoric  Acid  includes  both  the  solu- 


76  COTTON    CULTURE 

ble  and  reverted  forms  of  phosphoric  acid,  because  both 
forms  are  available  for  the  use  of  plants. 

(e)  Soluble  and  Available  Phosphoric  Acid  is  an  expres- 
sion which  means  the  same  as  available. 

(/)  Insoluble  Phosphoric  Acid  represents  the  form  of 
phosphoric  acid  in  raw  phosphate  of  lime,  and  which  is  of 
least  value  for  agricultural  purposes. 

(g)  Total  Phosphoric  Acid  represents  all  of  the  phos- 
phoric acid  compounds  without  regard  to  the  forms  in 
which  they  exist.  The  total  phosphoric  acid  is,  therefore, 
the  sum  of  the  soluble,  reverted,  and  insoluble  forms;  or, 
to  state  it  in  another  way,  the  sum  of  the  available  and 
insoluble  forms. 

(h)  Phosphoric  Acid  equal  (or  equivalent)  to  Bone  Phos- 
phate of  Lime  is  an  expression  which  usually  means 
nothing  more  or  less  than  insoluble  phosphoric  acid. 

NITROGEN    (AMMONIA) 

(a)  Nitrogen  is  a  gas  and,  in  this  form,  cannot  be  used 
in  fertilizers.  Therefore,  whenever  we  speak  of  nitrogen 
in  fertilizers  we  do  not  mean  that  nitrogen  exists  in  them 
as  simple  nitrogen.  The  nitrogen  in  fertilizers  is  always 
combined  with  other  elements,  and  may  be  present  in  one 
or  more  different  forms:  (ist)  in  the  form  of  nitrates,  as 
nitrate  of  soda;  (26.)  in  the  form  of  ammonia  compounds, 
as  sulfate  of  ammonia;  and  (3d)  in  the  form  of  organic 
matter,  animal  or  vegetable,  as  dried  blood,  meat,  tobacco 
stems,  etc.  Chemical  analysis  according  to  official  methods 


COTTON    CULTURE  77 

does  not  attempt  to  ascertain  and  state  in  which  form  or 
forms  the  nitrogen  is  present  in  a  fertilizer. 

When,  therefore,  nitrogen  is  expressed  in  an  analysis 
or  guarantee  as  "ammonia,"  it  refers  to  the  entire  amount 
of  nitrogen,  without  regard  to  the  particular  form  or  forms 
in  which  it  is  present. 

(6)  Ammonia  consists  of  nitrogen  combined  with  hydro- 
gen. A  pound  of  nitrogen  will  form  more  than  a  pound 
of  ammonia,  because  the  ammonia  formed  from  a  pound 
of  nitrogen  will  contain  that  pound  of  nitrogen  plus  the 
necessary  amount  of  hydrogen  added  to  form  ammonia. 
The  chemical  relations  of  nitrogen  and  ammonia  are  such 
that  fourteen  pounds  of  nitrogen  will  unite  with  exactly 
three  pounds  of  hydrogen,  and  will,  therefore,  produce 
seventeen  pounds  of  ammonia;  or  one  pound  of  nitrogen 
will  make  1.214  pounds  of  ammonia. 

(c)  Nitrogen  equal  (or  equivalent)  to  Ammonia  is  a  form 
of  expression  which  simply  means  that  the  nitrogen  is 
stated  not  as  nitrogen  but  as  ammonia. 

It  would  be  better  on  every  account  if  all  guarantees 
stated  simply  nitrogen  and  never  mentioned  ammonia  at 
all.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  compounds  of  ammonia  are  quite 
uncommon  in  commercial  fertilizers,  because  nitrogen  in 
this  form  is  the  most  expensive  and,  therefore,  least  used. 
Strictly  speaking,  the  term  ammonia  should  never  be  used 
except  when  sulfate  of  ammonia  or  some  similar  com- 
pound is  present  in  the  fertilizer. 

The  following  table  gives  the  composition  of  the  most 
commonly  known  fertilizer  materials: 


COTTON    CULTURE 


Ml 

t^»         CO        ^ 

CS                      r«- 

5        co 

ON        co        *^ 

5       CM        r^ 

0 

J3        EO! 

\O         ^         c' 

5          VO              M 

T>            M              CS 

H         ir 

N 

0*       ^ 

CS                          Ci- 

5         <N 

co                   c/ 

5                     t-t 

.a    a* 

lO 

0 

vO 

t^       X 

LO 

lull 

o<>« 

H 

:    5 

•      o 

S    3 

\O         *^" 

1 

04 

H 

^ 

M 

^ 

W 

.a      ^ 

!>.        VO           U- 

•>         M           ON 

ON        ON        v 

>             QS             LT 

(^ 

|s|S 

<N           M           f 

o      o      o 

5        co        M 
O        O 

CO            M              C* 

o      o      o 

5           M             C4 

c      c 

0 

8<£  fe 

^0            CO          cr 

1      0         "fr 

Tt           ^-           CM 

»^        0 

10 

£ 

<N            M           T* 

5            CM              M 

CO           M             C< 

-1 

Jy^V^ 

O  c> 

oM  " 

. 

*~| 

4J    ^ 

if 

IO, 

C  C+3 

,     •;..-, 

\f 

TnJ    C    O 

||J 

•'. 

!       ! 

! 

3 

O 

w.s^1 

' 

'•       '- 

; 

1  •  •     ** 

if 

> 

O  <J 

*j  <3 

; 

:        3 
\f 

'  s 

S* 

<N 

O          -4^ 

| 

2    .§ 

• 

£    « 

5 

OJ 

Carolina  phospha 
Carolina  acid  phc 

a  lonrl  -rr>r>V 

a  pebble  phosphal 
a  acid  phosphate 

ssee  phosphate  .  . 
ssee  acid  phospha 

k1o/->V  Ccr.p.nt'l 

p.  y^^^x^^y  .  . 

black  (dissolved) 

mpa1 

(dissolved)  

1  1  l 

o      o     ^ 

Cfl       C/3       & 

2    12    r2 
5    ^o    ^ 

0)         0) 

g  §  I 

0         0}         C 

;       <u       a 

H                C                C 

3      o      C 

5     PQ     2 

i         ^        : 

H                  C 

)        O 

3      22 

COTTON    CULTURE 

i\l 

J     '  ,   '                 '            ' 

:  '/'  -  \\\ 

1  § 

10         <N          rf         O 

M              M 

00 

•;  "::'"^i 

•s^fe 

PS 

:  a  a  a  a 
'.              ""> 

ro        w         M        OO 

vO 

1      ^            c 
w     -     «    ^ 

pi 

]                      ] 

00 

10 

^ 

M              M              M             IO 

IO                       to         to                       IO 

to 

10         *? 

"S'"+j 

ON       \O         l-~        -*t        to       t^        M 

ro 

ON         ^-         *^         •* 

Q^  o  c 

M              CS              M              M              M                               H 

M 

IP 

•Isjj 

O        O        O        O        O        O        O 

3 

3333 

cr^On 

IO                       IO 

to 

IO                       tO 

W.H 

<2              ?            ?            M              ?         °              ^ 

M 

OO         ^O      ^O         W 

c  +> 

O          W          ^         M          M        O         ON 

M 

10 

M              M              M              M              M 

M 

O        O        O        O        O        O        O 

+J          4J          +J          ^_>          +J          ^j          ^j 

3 

C        O        O        O 

24i 

IO 

to 

10 

to        ON        C*          O         M         to        r-- 

ON 

\O        ^       *o       oj 

:                        :     :;;   :  •  '-'i-  ~'  :'•  :"     :' 

'•                       '.'.'.'.'.         \ 

<D       /--.                     I           ! 

•  :/':-->  :  !- 

'S     -d      a)        '        • 
.      .2       vJ       o3       bo 

:    §    ^    ^  ^     :     : 

1   1   ;|  |  1     :     : 

o      ^     v~*'    ^^    ^       !       I 

t/3           t|_|           T^           r^             OJ 

«^000^          :  .  •   .    1-: 
0       jj       ,2        0       |        ^        ^ 

«    Is    ^    -°     a     Sf>    SP 

•H          r-i        __l__i                       TO          C3 

1111    §   3    * 

g     5     Q     Q     8     H     H 

OH 
§ 
1 
1 

Q 

Cotton-seed  meal 
Cotton  seed  .... 
Castor  pomace  . 
Tobacco  stems  . 

79 


80 


'C0TTON    CULTURE 


*.  I  :•  :,«*: 

',  .  •        v  io           10 

CO                   H                   W           N           IO 

• 

o  *» 

rj-                                                CO        •*           * 

* 

'o  y 

3       3       333: 

; 

tu 

C/D 

81 

CO               IO                                   I 

'. 

^* 

io             O              H        o        O         * 

* 

H 

Tfr                                                                                     CO              Tf 

.  .P 

.$2    Cti 

IO 

go| 

'.           I       !       I     w 

M 

PH 

"o.     ° 

o 

O 

0 

Jrsffe 

M 

H 

C/3 

PH<! 

0 

^rt 

10 

Pti 

"C'G-M 

4J  0  C 

*           I       I       I       I 

* 

CO 

0 
CO 

g|8 

:        :     :     :     : 

| 

B 

a) 

w.c^ 

. 

• 

^? 

Q 

Sc 

. 

. 

CO 

w 

C/2 

i 

' 

3 

^ 

II 



' 

* 

S 

10 

o 

^ 

I                      ;     co 

s 

jl 

10      « 

3 

H 

i_5  g 

00           H 

IO 

04 

!          o      H       I      o 

10 

CO 

^ 

CO 

(X 

10 

W 

S) 

lo| 

rj-             M              o        O)        o       OO 

IO                IO                 CO         M          CJ 

« 

oo 

H 

§3S 

4J                  -M                  4->                                      -*J 

3 

3 

cti 

&c 

00                  00                   t^                                      W 

M 

10 

PH 
fe 

!                                   I 

| 

o 

to  .      ^                      *v 

* 

fc 

e  :   e             ^ 

x-v 

o 

o 

o 

GQ 

2 

T^H       '         ^H"                                           ^ 

•«     ^   ;     w                  »^ 

1  !;  1          1 

g,   a,  :    P,           ^    w 

<j_i                                          r3       i» 

^ 
o 

CT3 

C/3 
0) 

1 

O 

^    ^   •    "S             S    ^ 

i 

CO 

^  if  I'i  -a   §  -S 

'Ct2*H«+2<u     c      c     ° 

1  1M  Is  t2  s  1 

o3 

•d 

8 

rt 

1 

274351 


'ERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


